Group-based communication apparatus configured to implement operational sequence sets and render workflow interface objects within a group-based communication system

ABSTRACT

Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to an improved group-based communication apparatus that is configured to render one or more workflow interface objects to a group-based communication apparatus in association with an operational sequence set returned by a query. The group-based communication apparatus is configured to detect a workflow trigger event associated with a workflow identifier, retrieve an operational sequence set based upon at least the workflow identifier from a group-based communication workflow repository, initiate the operational sequence set, and cause rendering of one or more workflow interface objects to the group-based communication interface. In some embodiments, the operational sequence sets are associated with a group-defined template.

BACKGROUND

Various communication systems facilitate messaging communications andcollaboration among a plurality of users across client devices connectedwith a centralized communication system. Applicant has identified anumber of deficiencies and problems associated with such conventionalcommunication systems. Through applied effort, ingenuity, andinnovation, these deficiencies and problems have been solved bydeveloping solutions that are structured in accordance with theembodiments of the present invention, many examples of which aredescribed in detail herein.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Various embodiments provided herein disclose improved apparatuses,methods, and computer program products for implementing operationalsequence sets and rendering workflow interface objects within agroup-based communication system.

One embodiment is directed to a group-based communication apparatusconfigured to render one or more workflow interface objects in agroup-based communication interface of a group-based communicationsystem, the group-based communication apparatus comprising at least oneprocessor and at least one memory, the at least one memory havingcomputer-coded instructions therein, wherein the computer-codedinstructions are configured to, in execution with the at least oneprocessor, cause the group-based communication apparatus to detect aworkflow trigger event, the workflow trigger event associated with aworkflow identifier; retrieve an operational sequence set based upon atleast the workflow identifier from a group-based communication workflowrepository, the operational sequence set associated with a group-definedtemplate; initiate the operational sequence set; and cause rendering ofone or more workflow interface objects to the group-based communicationinterface based upon the operational sequence set and the group-definedtemplate.

In certain embodiments, detecting a workflow trigger event is associatedwith receiving a channel creation request from a client device and theoperational sequence set comprises operational sequence steps that aresufficient to programmatically generate a group-based communicationchannel. In some embodiments, the operational sequence steps compriseconfiguring at least one of a channel title object, a channel interfacearrangement, a channel folder structure, a channel member suggestionset, a channel-specific external applications configuration, achannel-specific message formatting configuration, or combinationsthereof.

In certain embodiments, programmatically generating a group-basedcommunication channel comprises configuring a channel member suggestionset, the channel member suggestion set comprising one or more userrecipients to be sent a channel invitation request to become a member ofthe group-based communication channel; programmatically generating achannel invitation request for each of the one or more user recipients;and transmitting the channel invitation requests to each of the one ormore user recipients.

In some embodiments, the operational sequence steps further compriseprogrammatically generating and transmitting at least one workflow eventto one or more additional group-based communication channels. In certainembodiments, the operational sequence steps further compriseprogrammatically generating and transmitting at least one workflow eventto one or more external applications.

In some embodiments, the group-defined template is programmaticallydetermined based on relationships identified among group-basedcommunication objects of a group-based communication workflow datacorpus. In still further embodiments, the relationships areprogrammatically determined based on one or more trained machinelearning models. In certain embodiments, the group-defined templatecomprises a group-defined channel configuration template.

Some embodiments are directed to group-based communication apparatusconfigured to render a workflow menu interface in a group-basedcommunication interface of a group-based communication system, thegroup-based communication apparatus comprising at least one processorand at least one memory, the at least one memory having computer-codedinstructions therein, wherein the computer-coded instructions areconfigured to, in execution with the at least one processor, cause thegroup-based communication apparatus to receive an operational sequenceset query associated with a channel identifier; query a group-basedcommunication workflow repository for channel supported operationalsequence sets associated with the channel identifier; and causerendering of a workflow menu interface to the group-based communicationinterface of a client device associated with the operational sequenceset query, the workflow menu interface comprising channel supportedworkflow interface objects, and wherein each of the channel supportedworkflow interface objects is associated with one of the channelsupported operational sequence sets. In certain embodiments, each of thechannel supported workflow interface objects is configured for userengagement via the group-based communication interface.

In some embodiments, the computer-coded instructions are furtherconfigured to cause the group-based communication apparatus to detectuser engagement of a selected channel supported workflow interfaceobject via the group-based communication interface; and initiate aselected channel supported operational sequence set associated with theselected channel supported workflow interface object, wherein theselected channel supported operational sequence set comprisesoperational sequence steps.

In certain embodiments, at least one of the operational sequence stepscomprises programmatically generating and transmitting at least oneworkflow event to one or more external applications. In someembodiments, the computer-coded instructions are further configured tocause the group-based communication apparatus to receive workflow dataassociated with the at least one workflow event from the one or moreexternal applications; and store the received workflow data to agroup-based communication workflow data corpus.

In certain embodiments, the operational sequence steps comprise causingone or more workflow interface objects to be rendered within thegroup-based communication interface of the client device. In someembodiments, the one or more workflow interface objects are configuredto embody an interactive dialog interface for user engagement via thegroup-based communication interface.

In some embodiments, the computer-coded instructions are furtherconfigured to cause the group-based communication apparatus to storeworkflow data input associated with user engagement of the interactivedialog interface to a group-based communication workflow data corpus. Incertain embodiments, the selected channel supported operational sequenceset comprises at least one workflow milestone event and the interactivedialog interface is associated with the at least one workflow milestoneevent. In still further embodiments, the operational sequence set queryis further associated with a group identifier and wherein thecomputer-coded instructions are further configured to cause thegroup-based communication apparatus to in response to detectingcompletion of a first workflow milestone event, programmaticallygenerating and transmitting at least one workflow event to one or moreclient devices associated with the group identifier. In someembodiments, the operational sequence steps further comprise causing oneor more workflow interface objects to be rendered to the one or moreclient devices associated with the group identifier and wherein thecomputer-coded instructions are further configured to cause thegroup-based communication apparatus to receive workflow data associatedwith the workflow interface objects from the one or more client devicesassociated with the group identifier; and store the received workflowdata to a group-based communication workflow data corpus.

In some embodiments, each of the channel supported operational sequencesets is associated with a group-defined template, the group-definedtemplate programmatically determined based on relationships identifiedamong group-based communication objects of a group-based communicationworkflow data corpus. In still further embodiments, the relationshipsare programmatically determined based on one or more trained machinelearning models.

Some embodiments are directed to computer-implemented method forrendering workflow menu interface in a group-based communicationinterface of a group-based communication system, thecomputer-implemented method comprising receiving an operational sequenceset query associated with a channel identifier; querying a group-basedcommunication workflow repository for channel supported operationalsequence sets associated with the channel identifier; and rendering aworkflow menu interface to the group-based communication interface of aclient device associated with the operational sequence set query, theworkflow menu interface comprising channel supported workflow interfaceobjects, and wherein each of the channel supported workflow interfaceobjects is associated with one of the channel supported operationalsequence sets

Some embodiments further comprise detecting user engagement of aselected channel supported workflow interface and initiating a selectedchannel supported operational sequence set associated with the selectedchannel supported workflow interface object, wherein the selectedchannel supported operational sequence set comprises operationalsequence steps.

Some embodiments further comprise programmatically generating andtransmitting at least one workflow event to one or more externalapplications. Certain embodiments further comprise receiving workflowdata associated with the at least one workflow event from the one ormore external applications and storing the received workflow data to agroup-based communication workflow data corpus.

Some embodiments are directed to a computer-implemented method forrendering one or more workflow interface object in a group-basedcommunication interface of a group-based communication system, thecomputer-implemented method comprising detecting a workflow triggerevent, the workflow trigger event associated with a workflow identifier;retrieving an operational sequence set based upon at least the workflowidentifier from a group-based communication workflow repository, theoperational sequence set associated with a group-defined template;initiating the operational sequence set; and rendering one or moreworkflow interface objects to the group-based communication interfacebased upon the operational sequence set and the group-defined template.

In certain embodiments, detecting a workflow trigger event comprisesreceiving a channel creation request from a client device and theoperational sequence set comprises operational sequence steps that aresufficient to programmatically generate a group-based communicationchannel. Some embodiments further comprise programmatically generating agroup-based communication channel.

In some embodiments, the operational sequence steps comprise configuringat least one of a channel title object, a channel interface arrangement,a channel folder structure, a channel member suggestion set, achannel-specific external applications configuration, a channel-specificmessage formatting configuration, or combinations thereof.

Some embodiments further comprise configuring at least one of a channeltitle object, a channel interface arrangement, a channel folderstructure, a channel member suggestion set, a channel-specific externalapplications configuration, a channel-specific message formattingconfiguration, or combinations thereof.

In certain embodiments, programmatically generating a group-basedcommunication channel comprises configuring a channel member suggestionset, the channel member suggestion set comprising one or more userrecipients to be sent a channel invitation request to become a member ofthe group-based communication channel; programmatically generating achannel invitation request for each of the one or more user recipients;and transmitting the channel invitation requests to each of the one ormore user recipients.

In some embodiments, the operational sequence steps further compriseprogrammatically generating and transmitting at least one workflow eventto one or more additional group-based communication channels. In certainembodiments, the operational sequence steps further compriseprogrammatically generating and transmitting at least one workflow eventto one or more external applications.

Some embodiments are directed to a computer program product comprising anon-transitory computer readable medium having computer programinstructions stored therein, the computer program instructionsconfigured to, when executed by a processor, cause the processor todetect a workflow trigger event, the workflow trigger event associatedwith a workflow identifier; retrieve an operational sequence set basedupon at least the workflow identifier from a group-based communicationworkflow repository, the operational sequence set associated with agroup-defined template; initiate the operational sequence set; and causerendering of one or more workflow interface objects to a group-basedcommunication interface based upon the operational sequence set and thegroup-defined template.

The details of one or more embodiments of the subject matter describedin this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and thedescription below. Other features, aspects, and advantages of thesubject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings,and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus described some embodiments in general terms, reference willnow be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarilydrawn to scale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic view of a group-based communicationsystem in communication with client devices and external resourcesaccording to various embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a group-based communication apparatusaccording to one embodiment;

FIG. 3A depicts an example group-based communication interfacestructured in accordance with various embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3B depicts an example group-based communication interfacestructured in accordance with various embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating example operations for rendering oneor more workflow interface objects in a group-based communication systemin accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5A is a flowchart illustrating example operations for rendering aworkflow menu interface and initiating a channel support operationalsequence set in a group-based communication system in accordance withone embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5B illustrates an example signal diagram illustrating data flowinteractions between a group-based communication apparatus, agroup-based communication repository, an external resource, and a clientdevice when rendering a workflow menu interface and initiating a channelsupport operational sequence set in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 6A depicts an example group-based communication interfacestructured in accordance with various embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 6B depicts an example group-based communication interface withworkflow interface objects structured in accordance with variousembodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 6C depicts an example group-based communication interface withchannel configurations associated with external applications structuredin accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure more fully describes various embodiments withreference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood thatsome, but not all embodiments are shown and described herein. Indeed,the embodiments may take many different forms, and accordingly thisdisclosure should not be construed as limited to the embodiments setforth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that thisdisclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbersrefer to like elements throughout.

Overview

In a group-based communication system, users may communicate andcollaborate with one another on a variety of projects, goals, topics,etc. Some of the steps, tasks, or functions associated with suchprojects may be repetitive and/or similar across multiple projectswithin a channel, group, or organization. For example, each time a salesteam signs a project with a new customer, a particular series of actionsmay need to occur, such as staffing the project, creating one or morechannels to handle different aspects of the project (e.g., contractreview, change orders, design, etc.), providing certain deliverables,configuring access to one or more external resources or applications todevelop the project, as well as coordinate efficient and informeddecisions and approvals by management or other individuals throughoutthe entirety of the project. Even upon completion of the project, theclosing and archival of the project is often required. Thus, it isdesirable for the group-based communication system to support theorganization and efficient configuration of such functions required bymultiple users, multiple group-based communication channels, andmultiple external applications.

In addition, configuring the various parameters, settings, and variablesrequired when creating a new a group-based communication channel oftencan be complicated and non-intuitive for new users and experienced usersalike. Indeed, regardless of whether a user is new to a group-basedcommunication system or not, channel configurations such as determininga channel folder structure, identifying potential members, andconfiguring access to external applications can be frustrating and timeconsuming to any user without guidance. This problem is exacerbated asthe number of users and channels increase for any particular group-basedcommunication workspace. In addition, when channels are not configuredcorrectly, indexing and retrieval of data objects or search results fromsuch channels suffer delays when performed by the system. Thus, it isdesirable for the group-based communication system to support multipleusers and multiple group-based communication channels while allowingusers to easily create group-based communication channels and increasingefficiency of indexing and search capabilities.

Applicant has identified that providing access to a variety of channelsupported workflow interface objects associated with channel supportedoperational sequence sets that structure the configuration of recurringproject or task functions improves user experience and reduces burden onthe system. Additionally, Applicant has identified that providing accessto operational sequence sets associated with group-defined templates viaone or more workflow interface objects streamlines a variety of theconfigurations required of a user. For example, the channelconfiguration needs may often be similar or common across multiplemembers of a group, thus, group-defined templates comprising agroup-defined channel configuration template allows the group-basedcommunication system to minimize the complexity and time required increating a new group-based communication channel, thereby easing thechannel creation process and also educating users how to use channels.Using a group-defined template also increases efficiency of indexing andsearch capabilities by the group-based communication system.

Various embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to improvedgroup-based communication apparatuses, methods, and computer programproducts for implementing operational sequence sets and renderingworkflow interface objects within a group-based communication system. Inone example, the group-based communication apparatus detects a workflowtrigger event, wherein the workflow trigger event is associated with aworkflow identifier. The group-based communication apparatus retrievesan operational sequence set based upon at least the workflow identifierfrom a group-based communication workflow repository, the operationalsequence set associated with a group-defined template. The group-basedcommunication apparatus initiates the operational sequence set andcauses rendering of one or more workflow interface objects to thegroup-based communication interface based upon the operational sequenceset and the group-defined template. Exemplary embodiments herein enablea user to create a new group-based communication channel in a fast andefficient manner without having to invoke conventional processes thatmay require a more extensive series of inputs (e.g., clicks orselections) from the user.

In another example, the group-based communication apparatus receives anoperational sequence set query associated with a channel identifier,queries a group-based communication workflow repository for channelsupported operational sequence sets associated with the channelidentifier, and causes rendering of a workflow menu interface to thegroup-based communication interface of a client device associated withthe operational sequence set query, the workflow menu interfacecomprising channel supported workflow interface objects, and whereineach of the channel supported workflow interface objects is associatedwith one of the channel supported operational sequence sets.

In another example, the group-based communication apparatus isconfigured to transmit workflow events and store workflow data inputassociated with user engagement with the group-based communicationsystem in a group-based communication workflow data corpus. A work graphdata structure can be assembled from such group-based communicationworkflow data corpus and can be used to illustrate relationships betweenvarious users, group-based communication channels, workflow data inputs,workflow events, and other group-based communication objects. Such awork graph data structure may be leveraged via machine-learning and/orartificial-intelligence configurations and/or models to present userswith group-defined templates that can be used to provide a plurality ofexpansive, relevant operational sequence sets and/or the like.

DEFINITIONS

Certain terms used in connection with exemplary embodiments are definedbelow.

The term “group-based” is used herein to refer to a system, channel,communication, message, or virtual environment that has securitysufficient such that the system, channel, communication, message, orvirtual environment is accessible only to a defined group of users(e.g., users having a common group identifier associated with theirrespective user profiles). In some embodiments, the group is defined bycommon access credentials, such as those of an organization orcommercial enterprise. In still further embodiments, access is furtherfacilitated by a validated request to join or an invitation to jointransmitted by one group member user to another non-member user. Groupidentifiers (defined below) are used to associate data, information,messages, users, group-based communication channels, etc., with specificgroups of a group-based communication system as defined below.

The term “group-based communication system” refers to the communicationssoftware platform and associated hardware that is configured to supportand maintain a plurality of group-based communication workspaces and allassociated functionality, including through which client devicescommunicate and interact in a group-based setting. Group-basedcommunication system users are organized into organization groups (e.g.,in certain embodiments, employees of different companies are separateorganization groups) and each organization group interacts with thesystem via at least one group-based communication workspace. Forexample, the group-based communication system might support, amongothers, a plurality of workspaces associated with Slack Corporation anda plurality of workspaces associated with ACME Corporation. Examplegroup-based communication systems comprise supporting servers and clientdevices, and are further configured to engage with external resourcesand external applications.

Group-based communication system users are organized into organizationgroups (e.g., in certain embodiments, employees of each company are aseparate organization group) and each organization group or sub-grouphas one or more group-based communication workspaces and/or group-basedcommunication channels to which users are assigned or which the usersjoin (e.g., group-based communication channels can representdepartments, geographic locations such as offices, product lines, userinterests, topics, issues, and/or the like). In some embodiments, agroup identifier is used to facilitate access control for a message(e.g., access to the message, such as having the message return as partof search results in response to a search query, is restricted to thoseusers having the group identifier associated with their user profile).In some embodiments, the group identifier is used to determine contextfor the message (e.g., in certain embodiments, a description of thegroup, such as the name of the group and/or a brief description of thegroup, is associated with the group identifier).

A user may access the group-based communication system via a clientdevice to enable access to one or more group-based communicationinterfaces including various information and/or data linked togroup-based communication workspaces and/or group-based communicationchannels associated with an authenticated user account. Each useraccount may be provisioned to access one or more group-basedcommunication workspaces and/or associated group-based communicationchannels. Group-based communication system users may join and/or creategroup-based communication channels. Some group-based communicationchannels may be globally accessible to those users having a particularorganizational identifier associated with their user profile (i.e.,users who are members of the organization). Access to some group-basedcommunication channels is restricted to members of specified workspaces,whereby the group-based communication channels are accessible to thoseusers having a particular group identifier associated with their userprofile. In some embodiments, the group-based communication channelidentifier is used to facilitate access control for a message (e.g.,access to the message, such as having the message return as part ofsearch results in response to a search query, is restricted to thoseusers having the group-based communication channel identifier associatedwith their user profile, or who have the ability to join the group-basedcommunication channel). In certain embodiments, the group-basedcommunication channel identifier is used to determine context for themessage (e.g., a description of the group-based communication channel,such as a description of a project discussed in the group-basedcommunication channel, is associated with the group-based communicationchannel identifier).

The term “group-based communication platform” refers to a computingplatform embodied for the purpose of supporting a group-basedcommunication system, as a collection of computing services that areaccessible to one or more client devices, and that are operable toprovide access to a plurality of software applications related tooperations of databases. In some examples, the group-based communicationplatform takes the form of one or more central servers disposed incommunication with one or more additional servers running softwareapplications and having access to one or more databases storing digitalcontent items, application-related data, and/or the like.

The term “group-based communication server” refers to a softwareplatform and associated hardware that is configured to manage access tothe various group-based communication interfaces of the group-basedcommunication system. The group-based communication server is configuredto access, maintain, and support application product logic of thegroup-based communication system and to access one or more datarepositories such as a group-based communication repository. Thegroup-based communication server is configured for interacting withvarious client devices for receiving and/or disseminating messages fordistribution within communication channels. Group-based communicationservers may be configured to receive, store (in an associated database),and/or direct messages exchanged between users (operating via clientdevices). The functionality of the group-based communication servers maybe provided via a single server or collection of servers having a commonfunctionality, or the functionality of the group-based communicationservers may be segmented among a plurality of servers or collections ofservers performing subsets of the described functionality of thegroup-based communication servers. For example, a first subset ofgroup-based communication servers may be configured for receivingmessages from client devices and/or for transmitting messages to clientdevices (e.g., via one or more interface servers). These group-basedcommunication servers may be in communication with a second subset ofgroup-based communication servers configured for collecting messagesdistributed within communication channels and for storing those messageswithin a message repository database for indexing and archiving.

The term “group-based communication interface” is a graphical userinterface of a group-based communication system that is configured toallow users to (e.g., group members) to view and engage a group-basedcommunication workspace. A group-based communication interface isrendered to a client device based on data and instructions provided bythe group-based communication system. In some embodiments, such data andinstructions are facilitated by a dedicated software application runningon the client device. In other embodiments, such data and instructionsare provided through a web browser running on the client device.

The term “group-based communication workspace” refers to a virtualcommunications environment configured to facilitate user interactionwith a group-based communication system, the virtual communicationsenvironment having restricted access such that it is not generallyaccessible and/or searchable by other members of the group-basedcommunication system. Each group-based communication workspace isaccessible and viewable to a select group of users, such as a group ofemployees of a business or organization (e.g., the Slack Corp. workspacewould be accessible and viewable to the Slack employees however the ACMECorporation group-based communication workspace would not be accessibleand viewable to Slack employees). In certain embodiments, thegroup-based communication workspace includes and provides access to aplurality of group-based communication channels (e.g., a marketingchannel, a sales channel, an accounting channel, etc.), which aredefined herein.

The terms “group-based communication application” or “group-basedcommunication app” refer to a dedicated software program, application,platform, service, web browser, or computer-executable applicationsoftware programmed or configured to run on a client device whichprovides the user access to the group-based communication system. Such agroup-based communication application is typically designed to executeon mobile devices, such as tablets or smartphones. For example, incertain embodiments, an app is provided that executes on mobile deviceoperating systems such as iOS®, Android®, or Windows®. These platformstypically provide frameworks that allow apps to communicate with oneanother and with particular hardware and software components of mobiledevices. For example, the mobile operating systems named above eachprovide frameworks for interacting with location services circuitry,wired and wireless network interfaces, user contacts, and otherapplications. Communication with hardware and software modules executingoutside of the app is typically provided via application programminginterfaces (APIs) provided by the mobile device operating system.

The terms “group-based communication message,” “messagingcommunication,” and “message” refer to any electronically generateddigital content object provided by a user that has security sufficientsuch that it is accessible only to a defined group of users and that isconfigured for display within a group-based communication channel.Messaging communications may include any text, image, video, audio orcombination thereof provided by a user (using a client device). Forinstance, the user may provide a messaging communication that includestext as well as an image and a video within the messaging communicationas message contents. In such a case, the text, image, and video wouldcomprise the messaging communication or digital content object. Eachmessage sent or posted to a group-based communication channel of thegroup-based communication system includes metadata comprising thefollowing: a sending user identifier, a message identifier, messagecontents, a timestamp associated with the post of the message, agroup-based communication channel identifier. Each message sent orposted to a group-based communication thread further includes agroup-based communication thread identifier. Each of the foregoingidentifiers may comprise ASCII text, a pointer, a memory address, andthe like.

The term “group-based communication channel” refers to a virtualcommunications environment or feed that is configured to displaymessaging communications posted by channel members (e.g., validatedusers accessing the environment using client devices) that are viewableonly to the members of the channel. In certain embodiments, the formatof the group-based communication channel appears differently todifferent members of the group-based communication channel; however, thecontent of the group-based communication channel (i.e., messagingcommunications) will be displayed to each member of the group-basedcommunication channel. For instance, in one embodiment, a common set ofgroup-based messaging communications will be displayed to each member ofthe respective group-based communication channel such that the contentof the group-based communication channel (i.e., messagingcommunications) will not vary per member of the group-basedcommunication channel. However, in another embodiment, a member may joina group-based communication channel and only be able to view subsequentgroup-based messaging communications (as opposed to historicalgroup-based messaging communications posted prior to the user joiningthe channel). The group-based communication channels are generallytopic-oriented, long-lasting channels as opposed to ad hoc ephemeralconversations in conventional messaging apps. Group-based communicationchannels are typically organized or arranged (e.g., alphabetically) inlist form within a sidebar pane of the group-based communicationinterface based on the channel titles or names. The interface throughwhich a member views a group-based communication channel is a“group-based communication channel interface”.

The terms “group-based communication channel identifier” or “channelidentifier” refer to one or more items of data by which a group-basedcommunication channel is uniquely identified in a group-basedcommunication system. For example, in some embodiments, a group-basedcommunication channel identifier comprises ASCII text, a pointer, amemory address, and/or other unique identifier.

The term “group-based communication thread” or “thread” is a collectionof message communications displayed in a subsidiary feed arising from orotherwise associated with a selected group-based messaging communicationdisplayed in a selected group-based communication channel. A group-basedcommunication thread may include one or more “threaded messages” or“thread communication messages” that are linked together in thesubsidiary feed, wherein each is associated with the selectedgroup-based messaging communication or “parent message.”

The term “private group-based communication channel” refers to agroup-based communication channel with restricted access settings suchthat it is not generally accessible and/or searchable by other membersof the group-based communication system (i.e., members associated withother group-based communication workspaces). For example, only thoseusers or administrators who have knowledge of and permission to access(e.g., a group-based communication channel identifier for the privategroup-based communication channel is associated with their user profileafter the user has been validated/authenticated) the private group-basedcommunication channel can view content of the private group-basedcommunication channel.

The term “group-based communication object” refers to electronic dataobjects or digital content objects specifically executable and/orotherwise accessible via the group-based communication system and/or atleast one external resource. Group-based communication objects may bereceived at the group-based communication system by receiving thosegroup-based communication objects conveyed to (pushed to) thegroup-based communication system, or the group-based communicationsystem may retrieve (pull to) various group-based communication objectsstored within accessible storage areas of one or more client devices,external resources, and/or the like. The group-based communicationobjects include body content data and metadata. The body content data ofthe group-based communication objects may be interpreted by thegroup-based communication apparatus to display or otherwise conveyhuman-readable representations of information and/or computer-executablecontent that causes a particular client device to operate in aparticular way. Specifics of certain group-based communication objectsexamples are discussed herein, however, it should be understood that incertain embodiments, group-based communication objects may be embodiedas messaging communications, draft messaging communications, emails,events, audio files, video files, document files, spreadsheet files,presentation files, tasks, and/or the like; as well as any contextualdata corresponding therewith. Group-based communication objects may thusbe non-personal (alternatively referred to as public) as they areexchanged between a plurality of users or otherwise made available to aplurality of users. Alternatively, group-based communication objects maybe personal in nature (e.g., as defined by a portion of metadataassociated with the group-based communication object), such that accessto the content of the group-based communication object is limited to asingle user (or a limited number of defined users). For example,group-based communication objects personal to a single user mayencompass tasks or task lists defined personally by and for a particularuser. Access to personal group-based communication objects may belimited to access requests associated with defined user identifiers. Incertain embodiments, personal group-based communication objects may berepresented as encrypted data when indexed in database storage areasand/or when included within work graph data structures includingpersonal and non-personal group-based communication objects.

The term “group-based communication repository” refers to a computinglocation, such as a memory device, where data is stored, accessed,modified and otherwise maintained by the group-based communicationsystem. The stored data includes information that facilitates theoperation of the group-based communication system. The group-basedcommunication repository may be embodied as a data storage device ordevices, as a separate database server or servers, or as a combinationof data storage devices and separate database servers. The group-basedcommunication repository may be a dedicated device and/or a part of alarger repository. Further, in some embodiments, the group-basedcommunication repository may be embodied as a distributed repositorysuch that some of the stored data is stored centrally in a locationwithin the group-based communication system and other data stored in asingle remote location or a plurality of remote locations.Alternatively, in some embodiments, the group-based communicationrepository is distributed over a plurality of remote storage locationsonly. In some embodiments, the group-based communication repository isencrypted in order to limit unauthorized access of such data. An exampleof a group-based communication repository is the “group-basedcommunication workflow repository.” In some embodiments, the group-basedcommunication workflow repository stores data that is generated based onuser input, user selections, and user interaction with the group-basedcommunication system in association with an operational sequence set.Such data can be queried and retrieved by the group-based communicationapparatus.

The term “group-based communication system data corpus” refers to acollection of group-based communication data objects that are capable ofbeing transmitted, received, and/or stored in a group-basedcommunication system. For example, a group-based communication systemdata corpus includes, but is not limited to, group-based communicationdata objects that have been received by a group-based communicationsystem through group-based communication interfaces. In someembodiments, a group-based communication system data comprise one ormore of a group-based communication data objects, group-basedcommunication messages, group-based communication channels, and userprofiles associated with the group-based communication system. One typeof group-based communication system data corpus is the “group-basedcommunication workflow data corpus” which refers to a collection ofgroup-based communication data objects associated with operationalsequence sets that are capable of being transmitted, received, and/orstored in a group-based communication platform.

As used herein, the terms “data,” “content,” “digital content,” “digitalcontent object,” “information,” and similar terms are usedinterchangeably to refer to data capable of being transmitted, received,and/or stored in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.Thus, use of any such terms should not be taken to limit the spirit andscope of embodiments of the present invention. Further, where acomputing device is described herein to receive data from anothercomputing device, it will be appreciated that the data may be receiveddirectly from another computing device or may be received indirectly viaone or more intermediary computing devices, such as, for example, one ormore servers, relays, routers, network access points, base stations,hosts, repeaters, and/or the like, sometimes referred to herein as a“network.” Similarly, where a computing device is described herein tosend data to another computing device, it will be appreciated that thedata may be transmitted directly to another computing device or may betransmitted indirectly via one or more intermediary computing devices,such as, for example, one or more servers, relays, routers, networkaccess points, base stations, hosts, repeaters, and/or the like.

The term “user” should be understood to refer to an individual, group ofindividuals, business, organization, and the like. Users referred toherein are discussed largely in connection with client device enabledactivity for accessing a group-based communication interface (or set ofgroup-based communication interfaces) of a group-based communicationsystem. That is, in some embodiments, users access a group-basedcommunication messaging system using client devices. Each user of thegroup-based communication system is associated with at least one “groupidentifier”.

The terms “user profile,” “user account,” “user profile data,” and “useraccount details” refer to data, files, and other information of agroup-based communication system that is associated with a user,including, for example, a user identifier, one or more group-basedcommunication channel identifiers associated with group-basedcommunication channels to which the user has been granted access, one ormore group identifiers for groups with which the user is associated, anindication as to whether the user is an owner of any group-basedcommunication channels, an indication as to whether the user has anygroup-based communication channel restrictions, a plurality of messages,a plurality of emojis, a plurality of conversations, a plurality ofconversation topics, an avatar, an email address, a real name (e.g.,John Doe), a username (e.g., j doe), a password, a time zone, a status,and the like. The user account details can include a subset designationof user credentials, such as, for example, login information for theuser including the user's username and password.

The term “client device” refers to computer hardware and/or softwarethat is configured to access a service made available by a server. Theserver is often (but not always) on another computer system, in whichcase the client device accesses the service by way of a network. Clientdevices include, without limitation, smart phones, tablet computers,laptop computers, wearables, personal computers, enterprise computers,and the like. In some embodiments, client devices are associated with auser. In certain embodiments, the association is created by the clientdevice transmitting registration information for the user to thegroup-based communication server. In some instances, a client device istemporarily associated with a user (e.g., only when a user is loggedonto the group-based communication system app).

The term “user engagement” refers to user interaction, via a graphicaluser interface, with the group-based communication interface orcomponents thereof. Such user engagement with the group-basedcommunication interface or components thereof can be via a multitude ofinteractions, such as, but not limited to, “non-keystroke engagement” or“keystroke engagement.” Non-keystroke engagement refers to userinteraction in which such user interaction is free from (i.e., excludes)the entering of one or more (e.g., keystroke) characters into agroup-based communication interface. For example, touch-screen or mouseclick engagement are examples of non-keystroke engagement. The term“keystroke engagement” refers to entering of one or more keystrokes intoa component of the group-based communication interface. For example,input of one or more characters (e.g., alphanumeric characters oremojis) into a component of the group-based communication interface isone example of keystroke engagement.

The term “user identifier” refers to one or more items of data by whicha user, a user profile, or the user's corresponding user account isuniquely identified within a group-based communication system. Forexample, a user identifier comprises American Standard Code forInformation Interchange (ASCII) text, a pointer, a memory address, orother unique identifier.

The terms “group identifier,” “workspace identifier,” and “teamidentifier” refer to one or more items of data by which a group-basedcommunication workspace within a group-based communication system isuniquely identified. For example, a group identifier comprises ASCIItext, a pointer, a memory address, or other unique identifier. Groupidentifiers are used to distinguish group-based communication channels,messages, files, members, etc., associated with one group-basedcommunication workspace from another group-based communicationworkspace.

The term “organization identifier” refers to one or more items of databy which an organization or users associated with an organization withina group-based communication system is uniquely identified. For example,in some embodiments, an organization identifier comprises ASCII text, apointer, a memory address, and/or other unique identifier. In someembodiments, the organization identifier is associated with a selectgroup of users, such as a group of employees of a business, enterprise,corporation, or organization (e.g., the organization identifierassociated with Slack Corp. employees would be different than theorganization identifier associated with ACME Corporation). Thegroup-based communication workspaces and channels associated with SlackCorp.'s organization identifier would not be accessible or viewable byusers associated with the ACME Corporation organization identifier. Incertain embodiments, the organization identifier is associated with aplurality of group-based communication workspaces (e.g., a marketinggroup, a sales group, a patent group, etc.), which are defined herein.

A “sending user identifier” is associated with a collection of messagesthat are sent by a particular user (e.g., sent by a client deviceassociated with the particular user, client identifier, user identifier,or user profile). In some embodiments, these messages are analyzed orparsed to determine context regarding the user (e.g., the user'sexpertise or interest in a topic is determined based on the frequency ofmention of the topic or key words associated with the topic within suchmessages). A sending user identifier comprises ASCII text, a pointer, amemory address, or other unique identifier.

The term “workflow identifier” refers to one or more items of data bywhich an operational sequence set can be uniquely identified. Forexample, a workflow identifier can comprise ASCII text, a pointer, amemory address, and/or other unique identifiers.

The term “operational sequence set” refers to a sequence or series ofoperations, steps, requirements, routines, or processes organized tocomplete or achieve a certain purpose. Such operations, steps,requirements, routines, or processes, also known as operational sequencesteps, are performed by various components within the group-basedcommunication system and/or by various external applications. In someembodiments, some steps require user input or user engagement whileother steps are automatically performed without interaction with theuser via the client device. In certain embodiments, operational sequencesets are associated with a particular group-based communication channelor type of group-based communication channel. In still furtherembodiments, the operational sequence set is associated with agroup-defined workflow template, defined below. Operational sequencesets are stored in a group-based communication repository, specificallya group-based communication workflow repository, from which suchoperational sequence sets are capable of being located and accessed byother components of the group-based communication system, such as agroup-based communication apparatus.

The term “workflow interface object” refers to an object capable ofbeing rendered in association with an operational sequence set to agroup-based communication interface of a client device. For example, aworkflow interface object may comprise an operational sequence set nameand/or description of the functionality or purpose of the associatedoperational sequence set. A “channel supported workflow interfaceobject” refers to such a workflow interface object that is associatedwith and configured for use with a specific group-based communicationchannel.

The term “interactive dialog interface” refers to a user interfaceelement that is presented to a user as part of a group-basedcommunication interface and is configured for interaction with the userthrough presentation of one or more dialogs and detection of userengagement. In some embodiments, the interactive dialog interface isconfigured to present any one or more of a plurality of dialogs,including but not limited to, a notification, a request for input, aconfirmation, etc., that is intended to solicit feedback from the user.In some embodiments, the interactive dialog interface detects userengagement associated with the presented dialog, such as a selection ofone or more of a plurality of available options, as freeform keystrokeengagement, and/or the like. In certain embodiments, in response todetecting such user engagement, the interactive dialog interfacecomprises one or more additional dialogs or one or more elements forfurther user engagement. In some embodiments, the interactive dialoginterface is presented as a pop-up or an overlaid display elementdisplayed visually over another portion of the group-based communicationinterface. In still further embodiments, the interactive dialoginterface is presented as a portion of the larger group-basedcommunication interface.

The term “workflow trigger event” should be understood to refer to anevent, occurrence, and/or incident that initiates a responsive action bythe group-based communication apparatus upon detection. For example,upon detection of one type of workflow trigger events results in theretrieval of an operational sequence set by the group-basedcommunication apparatus from a group-based communication repository. Insome embodiments, a workflow trigger event is user-interaction-based.For example, the group-based communication apparatus detects the user'sselection or indication. In other embodiments, a workflow trigger eventis time-based. For example, the expiration of a timer serves as theworkflow trigger event. In still further embodiments, a workflow triggerevent originates from an external application.

The term “workflow milestone event” refers to a particular point withinthe operational sequence set used to measure the progress of theoperational sequence set in comparison to the ultimate purpose or goalof the operational sequence set. In some embodiments, an operationalsequence set comprises one workflow milestone event. In otherembodiments, an operational sequence set comprises a plurality ofworkflow milestone events. In still further embodiments, an operationalsequence set does not comprise any workflow milestone events. In someembodiments, a workflow milestone event is associated with a specifiedpassage of time. In certain embodiments, a workflow milestone event isassociated with the completion of a specified number of steps in theassociated operational sequence set, the completion of certain task, aspecific achievement or target in the operational sequence set, or thelike.

The term “workflow event” refers to an electrically generated digitalobject transmitted in association with an operational sequence set. Insome embodiments, the workflow event comprises instructions, directions,notifications, and/or the like that is associated with the operationalsequence set. In some embodiments, a workflow event can be generated byvarious components of the group-based communication system. In stillfurther embodiments, a workflow event can be generated by an externalapplication. In still further embodiments, a workflow event can begenerated in response to user input at a client device.

The term “workflow data” refers to a collection of data associated withan operational sequence set that is capable of being transmitted,received, and/or stored. In some embodiments, workflow data comprisesdata which defines the functionality of the operational sequence setassociated therewith, the functionality of a particular operationalsequential step in an operational sequence set, data associated withworkflow events, data associated with workflow interface objects, dataassociated with workflow milestone events, and the like. In certainembodiments, workflow data is associated with a workflow identifier.Workflow data is generated by various components within the group-basedcommunication system and/or by various external applications.

The term “workflow data input” refers to a collection of data associatedwith user engagement with an interactive dialog interface, theinteractive dialog interface associated with an operational sequenceset. In some embodiments, such workflow data input is stored to agroup-based communication workflow data corpus.

The term “workflow menu interface” refers to a user interface elementconfigured to be rendered to a group-based communication interface, theuser interface element comprising one or more workflow interface objectsand each of the workflow interface objects is associated with anoperational sequence set. In some embodiments, the workflow interfaceobjects and the operational sequence sets are associated with aparticular channel identifier such that they are capable of beingimplemented in that channel (i.e., channel supported workflow interfaceobjects and channel supported operational sequence sets). In someembodiments, each workflow interface object rendered within the workflowmenu interface comprises additional data associated with eachoperational sequence set, such as a workflow name and a briefdescription of the operational sequence set. In certain, each workflowinterface object is configured for user engagement via the group-basedcommunication interface. In still further embodiments, the group-basedcommunication apparatus detects user engagement of a selected workflowinterface object via the group-based communication apparatus andinitiates a selected operational sequence set associated with theselected workflow interface object.

The term “group-defined template” should be understood to refer to agroup-wide structure used to develop an operational sequence set withina particular group in a group-based communication system. As such, thegroup-defined template regulates the specific parameters, settings,limitations, and/or configurations associated with operational sequencesets in the particular group. In some embodiments, a group-definedtemplate is predetermined based on input from an administrator. Incertain embodiments, a group-defined template is programmaticallydetermined based on relationships identified among group-basedcommunication objects of a group-based communication workflow datacorpus. In still further embodiments, such relationships areprogrammatically determined based on one or more trained machinelearning models.

A “group-defined channel configuration template” refers to a particulartype of group-defined template utilized in configuring variousparameters, settings, limitations, and/or configurations associated withcreating a group-based communication channel. For example, in certainembodiments, a group-defined channel configuration template defines thepermitted and/or required configurations for channel title objects,channel interface arrangements, channel folder structures, channelmember suggestion sets, channel-specific external applicationsconfigurations, channel-specific message formatting configurations, orsome combination thereof. In still further embodiments, thegroup-defined channel configuration template defines other channel titlerequirements or permissions, including but not limited, to channel titleformatting constraints and channel naming conventions such as permittedprefixes and suffixes, length restrictions, language limitations, andthe like. Other settings and parameters that can be defined by agroup-defined channel configuration template are contemplated by thisdisclosure as set forth herein.

The term “channel creation request” refers to an electrically generateddigital object that indicates that a user has provided an inputcomprising a request to create a group-based communication channel. Insome embodiments, a channel creation request is represented via atemporary code that notifies a recipient that a user has made therequest. To provide further context, a channel creation request isgenerated in response to a user interaction with a group-basedcommunication interface presented on a display screen of a clientdevice. A user causes the client device to generate a channel creationrequest by interacting with, for example, a specific channel-creationactuator button that forms part of the group-based communicationinterface.

The term “channel title object” refers to an object defined by certainchannel title parameters and is capable of being rendered to agroup-based communication interface of a client. In some embodiments,the channel title object is a user interface element rendered to thegroup-based communication interface that is configured to enable a userto interact with the group-based communication system and select orenter a channel title for a group-based communication channel. Incertain embodiments, the rendering of the channel title object allowsfor freeform entry. In other embodiments, the rendering of the channeltitle object requires selection by the user of a channel titlesuggestion. The channel title parameters, which define the channel titleobject, include channel title formatting constraints such as permittedprefixes and suffixes, length restrictions, language limitations, andthe like. In some embodiments, the channel title parameters aregroup-defined.

The term “channel interface arrangement” refers to the format, layout,configuration, organization, or display of the individual user interfaceelements and components that are rendered to a group-based communicationinterface in association with a group-based communication channelinterface. The “group-based communication channel interface” is avirtual communications environment or feed that is configured to displaymessaging communications posted by channel members that are viewableonly to the members of the group. In some embodiments, the specificconfiguration of a messaging pane and sidebar pane to be displayed in afirst group-based communication channel interface differ from theconfiguration to be displayed in a second group-based communicationchannel interface. In still further embodiments, the channel interfacearrangement includes other user interface elements and components suchas tabs or other selectable elements allowing for additional and/oralternative information to be displayed to the user.

The term “channel folder structure” refers to the organization andplacement of a group-based communication channel in a virtual folder,the structure and arrangement of the group-based communication channeland virtual folder reflecting the channel's relationship to othergroup-based communication channels. For example, a plurality ofgroup-based communication channels related to a first common project canbe organized and stored under a first virtual folder, while a pluralityof group-based communication channels related to a second common projectare organized and stored under a second virtual folder. In someembodiments, a representation of such virtual folder structure andchannel titles associated with the organized group-based communicationchannels are rendered to the group-based communication interface,reflecting the relationship of the plurality of group-basedcommunication channels.

The term “channel member suggestion set” refers to a set of suggesteduser recipients identified as potential members to be provided access tothe particular group-based communication channel.

The term “channel invitation request” refers to a messagingcommunication generally directed to a user recipient inviting theselected user recipient to become a member of the group-basedcommunication channel (e.g., a validated user accessing the environmentusing client devices). The invitation request allows access to thegroup-based communication channel and generally includes a userengageable link to access the respective group-based communicationchannel interface.

The term “channel-specific external applications configuration” refersto the options, settings, functionality, customizations, or featuresassociated with external applications as configured in association witha specific group-based communication channel. For example, in certainembodiments, the specific configuration of an external application asassociated with a first group-based communication channel differs fromthe configuration of the same external application as associated with asecond group-based communication channel. In some embodiments,determination of, access to, and authentication of one or more externalapplications is managed or configured on a group or workspace level. Inother embodiments, determination of, access to, and authentication ofone or more external applications is managed or configured on anorganizational level. Additionally or alternatively, in someembodiments, an operational sequence step includes configuring achannel-specific external application configuration.

The term “channel-specific message formatting configuration” refers tothe attributes, options, capabilities, customizations, or features thatare available to a member when drafting and/or posting messagingcommunications to a specific group-based communication channel. Forexample, although a user may be a member of multiple channels, the userhas certain text formatting options, emojis, effects, templates, etc.available when drafting and/or posting messaging communications to aselected group-based communication channel that are not available whendrafting and/or posting messaging communication to other group-basedcommunication channels. In some embodiments, the determination of suchattributes, options, capabilities, customizations, or features ismanaged or configured on a group or workspace level. Additionally oralternatively, in some embodiments, an operational sequence stepincludes configuring a channel-specific message formattingconfiguration.

The term “external resource” or “external application” refers to asoftware program, application, platform, or service that is configuredto communicate with the group-based communication system for providingan external service (i.e., not native to the group-based communicationsystem) to a client device via a group-based communication interfaceand/or via a group-based communication workspaces. The externalapplication may service, manage, and/or perform various functions thatare accessible to a user. The external application operates on acompiled code base or repository that is separate and distinct from thatwhich supports the group-based communication system. In someembodiments, external applications communicate with the group-basedcommunication system, and vice versa, through one or more applicationprogram interfaces (APIs). As various examples, an external applicationmay be configured for executing a calendaring/scheduling app, a to-dolist app, a service provider app, a code building app, a softwaretesting app, a storage repository app, and/or the like. In someembodiments, an external application is configured to perform or executean operational sequence step associated with an operational sequence setinitialized in the group-based communication system.

The term “comprising” means including but not limited to and should beinterpreted in the manner it is typically used in the patent context.Use of broader terms such as comprises, includes, and having should beunderstood to provide support for narrower terms such as consisting of,consisting essentially of, and comprised substantially of.

The phrases “in one embodiment,” “according to one embodiment,” and thelike generally mean that the particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic following the phrase is included in the at least oneembodiment of the present invention and may be included in more than oneembodiment of the present invention (importantly, such phrases do notnecessarily refer to the same embodiment).

The terms “illustrative,” “example,” “exemplary” and the like are usedherein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration” withno indication of quality level. Any implementation described herein as“exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other implementations.

The terms “about,” “approximately,” or the like, when used with anumber, may mean that specific number, or alternatively, a range inproximity to the specific number, as understood by persons of skill inthe art field.

If the specification states a component or feature “may,” “can,”“could,” “should,” “would,” “preferably,” “possibly,” “typically,”“optionally,” “for example,” “often,” or “might” (or other suchlanguage) be included or have a characteristic, that particularcomponent or feature is not required to be included or to have thecharacteristic. Such component or feature may be optionally included insome embodiments, or it may be excluded.

The term “set” refers to a collection of one or more items.

The term “plurality” refers to two or more items.

The term “or” is used herein in both the alternative and conjunctivesense, unless otherwise indicated.

Example System Architecture

Methods, apparatuses, and computer program products of the presentdisclosure may be embodied by any of a variety of devices. For example,the method, apparatus, and computer program product of an exampleembodiment may be embodied by a networked device (e.g., an enterpriseplatform), such as a server or other network entity, configured tocommunicate with one or more devices, such as one or more clientdevices. Additionally, or alternatively, the computing device mayinclude fixed computing devices, such as a personal computer or acomputer workstation. Still further, example embodiments may be embodiedby any of a variety of mobile devices, such as a portable digitalassistant (PDA), mobile telephone, smartphone, laptop computer, tabletcomputer, wearable, or any combination of the aforementioned devices.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example computing system 100 within whichembodiments of the present disclosure may operate. Users may access agroup-based communication system 200 via a communications network 102using client devices 101A-101N. The group-based communication system 200may comprise a group-based communication apparatus 210 in communicationwith at least one group-based communication repository 207, such as thegroup-based communication suggestions repository. Users may furtheraccess features or services of one or more external resources 103A-103Nthrough the group-based communication system 200.

Communications network 102 may include any wired or wirelesscommunication network including, for example, a wired or wireless localarea network (LAN), personal area network (PAN), metropolitan areanetwork (MAN), wide area network (WAN), or the like, as well as anyhardware, software and/or firmware required to implement it (such as,e.g., network routers, etc.). For example, communications network 102may include a cellular telephone, an 802.11, 802.16, 802.20, and/orWiMax network. Further, the communications network 102 may include apublic network, such as the Internet, a private network, such as anintranet, or combinations thereof, and may utilize a variety ofnetworking protocols now available or later developed including, but notlimited to TCP/IP based networking protocols. For instance, thenetworking protocol may be customized to suit the needs of thegroup-based communication system. In some embodiments, the protocol is acustom protocol of JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) objects sent via aWebsocket channel. In some embodiments, the protocol is JSON over RPC(“remote procedural call), JSON over REST(“Representational StateTransfer”)/HTTP (“HyperText Transfer Protocol”), and the like.

The group-based communication apparatus 210 may be embodied as acomputer or computers. The group-based communication apparatus 210 mayprovide for receiving of electronic data from various sources, includingbut not necessarily limited to the client devices 101A-101N. Forexample, the group-based communication apparatus 210 may be operable toreceive and post or transmit group-based messaging communicationsprovided by the client devices 101A-101N.

The group-based communication repository 207 may be embodied as a datastorage device(s) such as a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device ordevices, or as a separate database server or servers. The group-basedcommunication repository 207 includes information accessed and stored bythe group-based communication apparatus 210 to facilitate the operationsof the group-based communication system 200. For example, thegroup-based communication repository 207 may include, withoutlimitation, a plurality of messaging communications organized among aplurality of group-based communication channels, a plurality of draftmessaging communications, and/or the like. A specific example of agroup-based communication repository 207 includes the group-basedcommunication workflow repository as described herein. Such group-basedcommunication suggestions repository may include, without limitation,user profile data, user role data, user organization data, user topicdata, historical channel interaction data, historical thread interactiondata, historical user interaction data, user recipient data, group-basedcommunication thread data, and group-based communication channel data.

The client devices 101A-101N may be any computing device as definedabove. Electronic data received by the group-based communicationapparatus 210 from the client devices 101A-101N may be provided invarious forms and via various methods. For example, the client devices101A-101N may include desktop computers, laptop computers, smartphones,netbooks, tablet computers, wearables, and the like.

In embodiments where a client device 101A-101N is a mobile device, suchas a smartphone or tablet, the client device 101A-101N may execute an“app” to interact with the group-based communication system 200. Suchapps are typically designed to execute on mobile devices, such astablets or smartphones. For example, an app may be provided thatexecutes on mobile device operating systems such as iOS®, Android®, orWindows®. These platforms typically provide frameworks that allow appsto communicate with one another and with particular hardware andsoftware components of mobile devices. For example, the mobile operatingsystems named above each provide frameworks for interacting withlocation services circuitry, wired and wireless network interfaces, usercontacts, and other applications. Communication with hardware andsoftware modules executing outside of the app is typically provided viaapplication programming interfaces (APIs) provided by the mobile deviceoperating system.

Additionally, or alternatively, the client device 101A-101N may interactwith the group-based communication system 200 via a web browser. As yetanother example, the client devices 101A-101N may include varioushardware or firmware designed to interface with the group-basedcommunication system 200.

Each of external resources 103A-103N represents an external system,resource, service, software application, computer, or the like, that auser of a client device associated with a corresponding group-basedcommunication system user account may access via the group-basedcommunication system 200. For example, the group-based communicationsystem 200 may access an external resource via one or more applicationprogramming interfaces (APIs). An external resource may provide aspecific service via a group-based communication interface of thegroup-based communication system 200. In one example, an externalresource 103A may be a validated software source code repository, or thelike, which members of a group-based communication workspace maycollectively access as they collaborate to develop a new softwareapplication.

An external resource 103A-103N may be embodied in a variety of waysutilizing a variety of computing devices. For example, an externalresource 103A-103N may be a computer or server remote from thegroup-based communication system 200 and accessible over thecommunications network 102 (e.g., over the Internet for example).

In some embodiments of an exemplary group-based communication system200, a message or messaging communication may be sent from a clientdevice 101A-101N to a group-based communication system 200. In variousimplementations, the message may be sent to the group-basedcommunication system 200 over communications network 102 directly by aclient device 101A-101N, the message may be sent to the group-basedcommunication system 200 via an intermediary such as a message server,and/or the like. For example, the client device 101A-101N may be adesktop, a laptop, a tablet, a smartphone, and/or the like that isexecuting a client application (e.g., a group-based communication app).In one implementation, the message may include data such as a messageidentifier, sending user identifier, a group identifier, a group-basedcommunication channel identifier, message contents (e.g., text, emojis,images, links), attachments (e.g., files), message hierarchy data (e.g.,the message may be a reply to another message), third party metadata,and/or the like.

In one embodiment, the client device 101A-101N may provide the followingexample message, substantially in the form of a (Secure) HypertextTransfer Protocol (“HTTP(S)”) POST message including eXtensible MarkupLanguage (“XML”) formatted data, as provided below:

POST/authrequest.php HTTP/1.1

Host: www.server.com

Content-Type: Application/XML

Content-Length: 667

<?XML version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>

<auth_request>

-   -   <timestamp>2020-12-31 23:59:59</timestamp>    -   <user accounts details>        -   <user account credentials>            -   <user name>ID user 1</user name>            -   <password>abc123</password>            -   //OPTIONAL <cookie>cookieID</cookie>            -   //OPTIONAL                <digital_cert_link>www.mydigitalcertificate.com/JohnDoeDaDoeDoe@gmail.com/mycertifcate.dc</digital_cert_link>            -   //OPTIONAL                <digital_certificate>_DATA_</digital_certificate>        -   </user account credentials>    -   </user accounts details>    -   <client_details>//iOS Client with App and Webkit        -   //it should be noted that although several client details        -   //sections are provided to show example variants of client        -   //sources, further messages will include only one to save        -   //space        -   <client_IP>10.0.0.123</client_IP>        -   <user_agent_string>Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 7_1_1            like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/537.51.2 (KHTML, like Gecko)            Version/7.0 Mobile/11D201 Safari/9537.53</user_agent_string>        -   <client_product_type>iPhone6,1</client_product_type>        -   <client_serial_number>DNXXX1X1XXXX</client_serial_number>        -   <client_UDID>3XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXD</client_UDID>        -   <client_OS>iOS</client_OS>        -   <client_OS_version>7.1.1</client_OS_version>        -   <client_app_type>app with webkit</client_app_type>        -   <app_installed_flag>true</app_installed_flag>        -   <app_name>nickname.app</app_name>        -   <app_version>1.0</app_version>        -   <app_webkit_name>Mobile Safari</client_webkit_name>        -   <clientversion>537.51.2</client_version>    -   </client_details>    -   <client_details>//iOS Client with Webbrowser        -   <client_IP>10.0.0.123</client_IP>        -   <user_agent_string>Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 7_1_1            like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/537.51.2 (KHTML, like Gecko)            Version/7.0 Mobile/11D201 Safari/9537.53</user_agent_string>        -   <client_product_type>iPhone6,1</client_product_type>        -   <client_serial_number>DNXXX1X1XXXX</client_serial_number>        -   <client_UDID>3XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXD</client_UDID>        -   <client_OS>iOS</client_OS>        -   <client_OS_version>7.1.1</client_OS_version>        -   <client_app_type>web browser</client_app_type>        -   <client_name>Mobile Safari</client_name>        -   <client_version>9537.53</client_version>    -   </client_details>    -   <client_details>//Android Client with Webbrowser        -   <client_IP>10.0.0.123</client_IP>        -   <user_agent_string>Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 4.0.4;            en-us; Nexus S Build/IMM76D) AppleWebKit/534.30 (KHTML, like            Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/534.30</user_agent_string>        -   <client_product_type>Nexus S</client_product_type>        -   <client_serial_number>YXXXXXXXXZ</client_serial_number>        -   <client_UDID>FXXXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXXX</client_UDID>        -   <client_OS>Android</client_OS>        -   <client_OS_version>4.0.4</client_OS_version>        -   <client_app_type>web browser</client_app_type>        -   <client_name>Mobile Safari</client_name>        -   <client_version>534.30</client_version>    -   </client_details>    -   <client_details>//Mac Desktop with Webbrowser        -   <client_IP>10.0.0.123</client_IP>        -   <user_agent_string>Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X            10_9_3) AppleWebKit/537.75.14 (KHTML, like Gecko)            Version/7.0.3 Safari/537.75.14</user_agent_string>        -   <client_product_type>MacPro5,1</client_product_type>        -   <client_serial_number>YXXXXXXXXZ</client_serial_number>        -   <client_UDID>FXXXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXXX</client_UDID>        -   <client_OS>Mac OS X</client_OS>        -   <client_OS_version>10.9.3</client_OS_version>        -   <client_app_type>web browser</client_app_type>        -   <client_name>Mobile Safari</client_name>        -   <client_version>537.75.14</client_version>    -   </client_details>    -   <message>        -   <message_identifier>ID_message_10</message_identifier>        -   <team_identifier>ID_team_1</team_identifier>        -   <channel_identifier>ID_channel_1</channel_identifier>        -   <body contents>That is an interesting invention. I have            attached a copy of our patent policy.</body contents>        -   <attachments>patent_policy.pdf</attachments>    -   </message>

</auth_request>

The group-based communication system 200 comprises at least onegroup-based communication apparatus 210 that may create a storagemessage based upon the received message to facilitate message indexingand storage in a group-based communication repository 207. In oneimplementation, the storage message may include data such as a messageidentifier, a group identifier, a group-based communication channelidentifier, a sending user identifier, topics, responses, messagecontents (i.e., body contents), attachments, message hierarchy data,third party metadata, conversation primitive data, and/or the like. Forexample, the group-based communication apparatus 210 may provide thefollowing example storage message, substantially in the form of aHTTP(S) POST message including XML-formatted data, as provided below:

POST/storage_message.php HTTP/1.1

Host: www.server.com

Content-Type: Application/XML

Content-Length: 667

<?XML version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>

<storage_message>

-   -   <message_identifier>ID_message_10</message_identifier>    -   <team_identifier>ID_team_1</team_identifier>    -   <channel_identifier>ID_channel_1</channel_identifier>    -   <sending_user_identifier>ID_user_1</sending_user_identifier>    -   <topics>        -   <topic>disclosures</topic>        -   <topic>patents</topic>        -   <topic>policies</topic>    -   </topics>    -   <responses>        -   <response>liked by ID_user_2</response>        -   <response>starred by ID_user_3</response>    -   </responses>    -   <body contents>That is an interesting disclosure. I have        attached a copy of our patent policy.</body contents>    -   <attachments>patent_policy.pdf</attachments>    -   <conversation_primitive>        -   conversation includes messages: ID_message_8, ID_message_9,            ID_message_10, ID_message_11, ID_message_12    -   </conversation_primitive>

</storage_message>

In embodiments, a sending user identifier may be associated with themessage communication. In one implementation, the message may be parsed(e.g., using PHP—i.e., the script language derived from Personal HomePage Tools—commands) to determine a sending user identifier of the userwho sent the message.

In some embodiments, topics may be associated with the message. In oneimplementation, the message contents may be parsed (e.g., using PHPcommands) to determine topics discussed in the message. For example,hashtags in the message may indicate topics associated with the message.In another example, the message may be analyzed (e.g., by itself, withother messages in a conversation primitive) or parsed using a machinelearning technique, such as topic modeling, to determine topicsassociated with the message.

In embodiments, data indicating responses may be associated with themessage. For example, responses to the message by other users mayinclude reactions (e.g., selection of an emoji associated with themessage, selection of a “like” button associated with the message),clicking on a hyperlink embedded in the message, replying to the message(e.g., posting a message to the group-based communication channel inresponse to the message), downloading a file associated with themessage, sharing the message from one group-based communication channelto another group-based communication channel, pinning the message,starring the message, and/or the like. In one implementation, dataregarding responses to the message by other users may be included withthe message, and the message may be parsed (e.g., using PHP commands) todetermine the responses. In another implementation, data regardingresponses to the message may be retrieved from a database. For example,data regarding responses to the message may be retrieved via a MySQLdatabase command similar to the following:

SELECT messageResponses

FROM MSM_Message

WHERE messageID=ID_message_10.

For example, data regarding responses to the message may be used todetermine context for the message (e.g., a social score for the messagefrom the perspective of some user). In another example, data regardingresponses to the message may be analyzed to determine context regardingthe user (e.g., the user's expertise in a topic may be determined basedon the responses to the user's message regarding the topic).

In some embodiments, attachments may be included with the message. Ifthere are attachments, files may be associated with the message. In oneimplementation, the message may be parsed (e.g., using PHP commands) todetermine file names of the attachments. For example, file contents maybe analyzed to determine context for the message (e.g., a patent policydocument may indicate that the message is associated with the topic“patents”).

In embodiments, third party metadata may be associated with the message.For example, third party metadata may provide additional contextregarding the message or the user that is specific to a company, group,a group-based communication workspace, a group-based communicationchannel, and/or the like. In one implementation, the message may beparsed (e.g., using PHP commands) to determine third party metadata. Forexample, third party metadata may indicate whether the user who sent themessage is an authorized representative of the group-based communicationchannel (e.g., an authorized representative may be authorized by thecompany to respond to questions in the group-based communicationchannel).

In embodiments, a conversation primitive may be associated with themessage. In one implementation, a conversation primitive is an elementused to analyze, index, store, and/or the like, messages. For example,the message may be analyzed by itself, and may form its own conversationprimitive. In another example, the message may be analyzed along withother messages that make up a conversation, and the messages that makeup the conversation may form a conversation primitive. In oneimplementation, the conversation primitive may be determined as themessage, a specified number (e.g., two) of preceding messages and aspecified number (e.g., two) of following messages. In anotherimplementation, the conversation primitive may be determined based onanalysis of topics discussed in the message and other messages (e.g., inthe group-based communication channel) and/or proximity (e.g., messagesend order proximity, message send time proximity) of these messages.

In embodiments, various metadata, determined as described above, and/orthe contents of the message may be used to index the message (e.g.,using the conversation primitive) to facilitate various facets ofsearching (i.e., search queries that return results from group-basedcommunication repository 207). In one implementation, a storage messagemay be sent from group-based communication apparatus 210 to facilitateindexing in group-based communication repository 207. In anotherimplementation, metadata associated with the message may be determinedand the message may be indexed in group-based communication repository207. In one embodiment, the message may be indexed such that a company'sor a group's messages are indexed separately (e.g., in a separate indexassociated with the group and/or company that is not shared with othergroups and/or companies). In one implementation, messages may be indexedat a separate distributed repository (e.g., to facilitate data isolationfor security purposes).

If there are attachments associated with the message, file contents ofthe associated files may be used to index such files in group-basedcommunication repository 207 to facilitate searching. In one embodiment,the files may be indexed such that a company's or a group's files areindexed at a separate distributed repository.

Example Apparatus for Implementing Embodiments of the Present Disclosure

The group-based communication apparatus may be embodied by one or morecomputing systems, such as group-based communication apparatus 210 shownin FIG. 2. The group-based communication apparatus 210 may include aprocessor 202, a memory 201, input/output circuitry 203, communicationscircuitry 205, group-based communication circuitry 204, and operationalsequence circuitry 206. The apparatus 210 may be configured, using oneor more of the circuitry 203, 204, 205, and 206 to execute theoperations described herein.

Although the components are described with respect to functionallimitations, it should be understood that the particular implementationsnecessarily include the use of particular hardware. It should also beunderstood that certain of the components described herein may includesimilar or common hardware. For example, two sets of circuitry may bothleverage use of the same processor, network interface, storage medium,or the like to perform their associated functions, such that duplicatehardware is not required for each set of circuitry. The use of the term“circuitry” as used herein with respect to components of the apparatusshould therefore be understood to include particular hardware configuredto perform the functions associated with the particular circuitry asdescribed herein.

The term “circuitry” should be understood broadly to include hardwareand, in some embodiments, software for configuring the hardware. Forexample, in some embodiments, “circuitry” may include processingcircuitry, storage media, network interfaces, input/output devices, andthe like. In some embodiments, other elements of the apparatus 210 mayprovide or supplement the functionality of particular circuitry. Forexample, the processor 202 may provide processing functionality, thememory 201 may provide storage functionality, the communicationscircuitry 205 may provide network interface functionality, and the like.

In some embodiments, the processor 202 (and/or co-processor or any otherprocessing circuitry assisting or otherwise associated with theprocessor) may be in communication with the memory 201 via a bus forpassing information among components of the apparatus. The memory 201may be non-transitory and may include, for example, one or more volatileand/or non-volatile memories. In other words, for example, the memorymay be an electronic storage device (e.g., a computer readable storagemedium). The memory 201 may be configured to store information, data,content, applications, instructions, or the like, for enabling thegroup-based communication apparatus 210 to carry out various functionsin accordance with example embodiments of the present disclosure.

The processor 202 may be embodied in a number of different ways and may,for example, include one or more processing devices configured toperform independently. Additionally, or alternatively, the processor 202may include one or more processors configured in tandem via a bus toenable independent execution of instructions, pipelining, and/ormultithreading. The use of the term “processing circuitry” may beunderstood to include a single core processor, a multi-core processor,multiple processors internal to the apparatus, and/or remote or “cloud”processors.

In an example embodiment, the processor 202 may be configured to executeinstructions stored in the memory 201 or otherwise accessible to theprocessor. Alternatively, or additionally, the processor 202 may beconfigured to execute hard-coded functionality. As such, whetherconfigured by hardware or software methods, or by a combination thereof,the processor 202 may represent an entity (e.g., physically embodied incircuitry) capable of performing operations according to an embodimentof the present disclosure while configured accordingly. Alternatively,as another example, when the processor 202 is embodied as an executor ofsoftware instructions, the instructions may specifically configure theprocessor 202 to perform the algorithms and/or operations describedherein when the instructions are executed.

As just one example, the processor 202 may be configured to maintain oneor more communication channels connecting a plurality of client devices101A-101N (shown in FIG. 1) to enable message sharing therebetween. Theprocessor 202 ensures that messages intended for exchange between theclient devices 101A-101N within the particular communication channel areproperly disseminated to those client devices 101A-101N for displaywithin respective display windows provided via the client devices101A-101N.

Moreover, the processor 202 may be configured to synchronize messagesexchanged on a particular communication channel with a database forstorage and/or indexing of messages therein. In certain embodiments, theprocessor 202 may provide stored and/or indexed messages fordissemination to client devices 101A-101N. The processor 202 may alsoprovide to distribute such stored and/or indexed messages across variousgroup-based communication workspaces and associated group-basedcommunication channels as discussed herein.

In some embodiments, the group-based communication apparatus 210 mayinclude input/output circuitry 203 that may, in turn, be incommunication with processor 202 to provide output to the user and, insome embodiments, to receive an indication of a user input. Theinput/output circuitry 203 may comprise a user interface (e.g., agroup-based communication interface) and may include a display and maycomprise a web user interface, a mobile application, a client device, akiosk, or the like. In some embodiments, the input/output circuitry 203may also include a keyboard, a mouse, a joystick, a touch screen, touchareas, soft keys, a microphone, a speaker, or other input/outputmechanisms. The processor and/or user interface circuitry comprising theprocessor may be configured to control one or more functions of one ormore user interface elements through computer program instructions(e.g., software and/or firmware) stored on a memory accessible to theprocessor (e.g., memory 201, and/or the like).

The communications circuitry 205 may be any means such as a device orcircuitry embodied in either hardware or a combination of hardware andsoftware that is configured to receive and/or transmit data from/to anetwork and/or any other device, circuitry, or module in communicationwith the group-based communication apparatus 210. In this regard, thecommunications circuitry 205 may include, for example, a networkinterface for enabling communications with a wired or wirelesscommunication network. For example, the communications circuitry 205 mayinclude one or more network interface cards, antennae, buses, switches,routers, modems, and supporting hardware and/or software, or any otherdevice suitable for enabling communications via a network. Additionally,or alternatively, the communication interface may include the circuitryfor interacting with the antenna(s) to cause transmission of signals viathe antenna(s) or to handle receipt of signals received via theantenna(s).

The group-based communication circuitry 204 comprises hardware andsoftware configured to support a group-based communication system 200.The group-based communication circuitry 204 may utilize processingcircuitry, such as the processor 202, to perform these actions. Thegroup-based communication circuitry 204 may send and/or receive datafrom group-based communication repository 207. In some implementations,the sent and/or received data may be group-based communication objects(e.g., messages, files, links, etc.) organized among a plurality ofgroup-based communication channels. It should also be appreciated that,in some embodiments, the group-based communication circuitry 204 mayinclude a separate processor, specially configured field programmablegate array (FPGA), or application specific interface circuit (ASIC).

The operational sequence circuitry 206 comprises hardware and softwareconfigured to support operational sequence-related functionality,features, and/or services of the group-based communication system 200.The operational sequence circuitry 206 may utilize processing circuitry,such as the processor 202, to perform these actions. The operationalsequence circuitry 206 may send and/or receive data from group-basedcommunication repository 207 (e.g., the group-based communicationworkflow repository) and/or a group-based communication workflow datacorpus. In some implementations, the sent and/or received data may begroup-based communication objects, operational sequence set(s),operational sequence step(s), workflow identifier(s), workflow triggerevent(s), workflow interface object(s), workflow event(s), workflow dataand associated data. It should also be appreciated that, in someembodiments, the operational sequence circuitry 206 may include aseparate processor, specially configured field programmable gate array(FPGA), or application specific interface circuit (ASIC).

It is also noted that all or some of the information discussed hereincan be based on data that is received, generated and/or maintained byone or more components of the group-based communication apparatus 210.In some embodiments, one or more external systems (such as a remotecloud computing and/or data storage system, one or more externalresources 103A-103N) may also be leveraged to provide at least some ofthe functionality discussed herein. In some embodiments, at least oneworkflow event is transmitted to one or more external applications. Incertain embodiments, workflow data associated with at least one workflowevent is received from one or more external applications. In stillfurther embodiments, workflow trigger events and workflow events aregenerated by such one or more external applications.

As described above and as will be appreciated based on this disclosure,embodiments of the present disclosure may be configured as methods,mobile devices, frontend graphical user interfaces, backend networkdevices, and the like. Accordingly, embodiments may comprise variousmeans including entirely of hardware or any combination of software andhardware. Furthermore, embodiments may take the form of a computerprogram product on at least one non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium having computer-readable program instructions (e.g., computersoftware) embodied in the storage medium. Similarly, embodiments maytake the form of a computer program code stored on at least onenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Any suitablecomputer-readable storage medium may be utilized includingnon-transitory hard disks, CD-ROMs, flash memory, optical storagedevices, or magnetic storage devices.

As will be appreciated, any such computer program instructions and/orother type of code may be loaded onto a computer, processor or otherprogrammable apparatus's circuitry to produce a machine, such that thecomputer, processor, or other programmable circuitry that execute thecode on the machine creates the means for implementing variousfunctions, including those described herein.

The computing systems described herein can include clients and servers.A client and server are generally remote from each other and typicallyinteract through a communication network. The relationship of client andserver arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other. In someembodiments, a server transmits information/data (e.g., an HTML page) toa client device (e.g., for purposes of displaying information/data toand receiving user input from a user interacting with the clientdevice). Information/data generated at the client device (e.g., a resultof the user interaction) can be received from the client device at theserver.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details,these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of anyinventions or of what may be claimed, but rather as description offeatures specific to particular embodiments of particular inventions.Certain features that are described herein in the context of separateembodiments can also be implemented in combination in a singleembodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in thecontext of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multipleembodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination. Moreover,although features may be described above as acting in certaincombinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more featuresfrom a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from thecombination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asub-combination or variation of a sub-combination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults, unless described otherwise. In certain circumstances,multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, theseparation of various system components in the embodiments describedabove should not be understood as requiring such separation in allembodiments, and it should be understood that the described programcomponents and systems can generally be integrated together in a singlesoftware product or packaged into multiple software products. Anyoperational step shown in broken lines in one or more flow diagramsillustrated herein are optional for purposes of the depicted embodiment.

Thus, particular embodiments of the subject matter have been described.Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. In somecases, the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a differentorder and still achieve desirable results. In addition, the processesdepicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require theparticular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirableresults, unless described otherwise. In certain implementations,multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.

In various embodiments of the present disclosure, the group-basedcommunication apparatus 210 is configured to render one or more workflowinterface objects in a group-based communication interface of agroup-based communication system. In certain embodiments, thegroup-based communication apparatus 210 is configured to detect aworkflow trigger event, which is an event, occurrence, and/or incidentthat initiates a specific responsive action by the group-basedcommunication apparatus upon its detection. In certain embodiments, thedetection of a workflow trigger event results in the retrieval of anoperational sequence set by the group-based communication apparatus froma group-based communication repository. In some embodiments, theoperational sequence set comprises a series of operational sequencesteps.

In some embodiments, workflow trigger events are pre-defined. Forexample, a workflow trigger event can be a pre-defined associationbetween a user engagement or interaction with the group-basedcommunication interface (e.g., engagement with an executable elementsuch as a button click or keystroke engagement including freeform entry,etc.) and the specific responsive action by the group-basedcommunication apparatus. In still further embodiments, the workflowtrigger event is learned by the group-based communication apparatus overtime using machine learning models or other similar techniques.

A workflow trigger event can be any number of interactions orassociations with the group-based communication system. As anon-limiting example, in some embodiments, an example user clicks on achannel creation button on the group-based communication interface orotherwise indicates her desire to create a group-based communicationchannel in the group-based communication system. In response, the clientdevice generates and transmits a channel creation request to thegroup-based communication apparatus. In such an embodiment, the workflowtrigger event is the channel creation request. In another non-limitingexample, a channel topic appears in the channel header and it allowsusers to know what members in the channel are working on or importantdates like project deadlines. In an instance where a channel topic ischanged or revised, such modification can operate as a workflow triggerevent. For example, the changing of the topic may imply that userscoming to the channel need to know important information and the topicchange operates as the workflow trigger event, triggering thegroup-based communication apparatus to retrieve an operational sequencerelated to the distribution of that important information.

In another non-limiting example, items (e.g., messages, reply messages,files, etc.) may be pinned to a details pane or otherwise associatedwith a pane in a group-based communication interface or group-basedcommunication channel interface for easy reference to the user or toindicate a level of importance of the item. In some embodiments, theuser's engagement or interaction with the group-based communicationinterface to pin or associate the item operates as a workflow triggerevent, triggering the group-based communication apparatus to retrieve anoperational sequence related to the distribution of that importantinformation. In still another embodiment, the user's engagement orinteraction with the group-based communication interface to set achannel reminder (e.g., a predefined reminder or a custom reminder)operates as a workflow trigger event, triggering the group-basedcommunication apparatus to retrieve an operational sequence related tothe execution of such reminder. In still further embodiments, themessage contents posted in a channel may be parsed (e.g., using PHPcommands) to determine or identify a workflow trigger event. Forexample, the group-based communication apparatus may parse the messagecontents, detect the entry of a phrase such as “what's in yourschedule?” which in turn operates as a workflow trigger event,triggering the group-based communication apparatus to retrieve anoperational sequence related to calendaring a meeting. For example, theoperational sequence may include a series of operational sequence stepsincluding installing and interacting with a third party calendarapplication or render an interactive dialog interface to various usersin order to gather user input to suggest a meeting time.

As described herein, in various embodiments, the workflow trigger eventis associated with a workflow identifier. In the above-describednon-limiting example, the channel creation request (i.e., the workflowtrigger event) is associated with a workflow identifier that uniquelyidentifies an operational sequence set for creating a group-basedcommunication channel in that particular group (i.e., associated with agroup identifier). In some embodiments, the identified operationalsequence set comprises operational sequence steps that are sufficient toprogrammatically generate the group-based communication channel.

Upon detecting the workflow trigger event, the group-based communicationapparatus retrieves an operational sequence set based upon at least theworkflow identifier from a group-based communication workflowrepository, initiates the retrieved operational sequence set, and causesrendering of one or more workflow interface objects to the group-basedcommunication interface based upon the operational sequence set and thegroup-defined template. In a non-limiting example, the one or moreworkflow interface objects could be user interface components related toselecting and/or confirming channel configurations. For example, it iscontemplated that the user would be presented with pre-definedplaceholder channels with descriptions. In such an embodiment, thegroup-based communication apparatus renders one or more workflowinterface objects depicting the available placeholder channels withassociated descriptions. Such pre-defined placeholder channels would bedetermined in a myriad of ways. For example, the most popular channelconfigurations associated with the individual user (i.e., the useridentifier) would be provided as options to the user. In such anembodiment, the one or more workflow interface objects could berestricted to displaying only a specified number of popular channelconfigurations (e.g., top 3 most popular). The determination of whichchannel configurations to provide could be based on a number ofvariables, including most recent created by the user identifier, mostfrequent created by the user identifier, etc. In another non-limitingexample, the pre-defined placeholder channels could be determined basedon the channels to which the user identifier is identified as a member.This disclosure contemplates a variety of available operational sequencesets and associated workflow interface objects.

In another non-limiting example, the pre-defined placeholder channelscould be determined based on the most popular channel configurations fora type of workspace as depicted in FIGS. 6A-6C. In the non-limitingembodiment depicted, a user is asked to identify a particular industrysector or type of workspace that is needed. Non-limiting examplesinclude Film & Television, Game Development, Education, Non-Profit,Travel, Pharmaceutical, Finance, Construction, Government, Law Firm,etc. In the embodiment depicted, the user is associated with Acme MovieCompany and the user selects Film & Television from an promptinginterface object and the user clicks on the “Next” button 601 displayedor otherwise indicates here desire to create a group-based communicationchannel in the group-based communication system as depicted in FIG. 6A.In this non-limiting example, the selection or indication by the user ofthe Film & Television industry is a channel creation request (i.e., theworkflow trigger event) for channels associated with Film & Television.Upon detecting the workflow trigger event, the group-based communicationapparatus retrieves the operational sequence set based upon at least theworkflow identifier from a group-based communication workflowrepository, initiates the retrieved operational sequence set, and causesrendering of one or more workflow interface objects to the group-basedcommunication interface based upon the operational sequence set and thegroup-defined template. In this non-limiting embodiment depicted in FIG.6B, the one or more workflow interface objects are the variouspre-defined placeholder channels 605 such as #scripts, #financing,#storyboards, #lighting, #casting, #extras, #catering, #hair-and-makeup,#locations, and #dailies. In the example embodiment depicted in FIG. 6B,the user selects #scripts.

In some embodiments, the retrieved operational sequence set isassociated with a group-defined template. A group-defined templatecomprises a group-wide structure used to develop an operational sequenceset within a particular group (e.g., associated with a group identifier)in a group-based communication system. For example, in some embodiments,the group-defined template comprises a group-defined channelconfiguration template. As such, the group-defined channel configurationtemplate comprises the specific parameters, settings, limitations,and/or configurations associated with the operational sequence set forcreating a group-based communication channel in that particular group.In certain embodiments, a group-defined channel configuration templatedefines the permitted and/or required configurations for channel titleobjects, channel interface arrangements, channel folder structures,channel member suggestion sets, channel-specific external applicationsconfigurations, channel-specific message formatting configurations, orsome combination thereof. Although group-defined, in some embodiments,the operational sequence steps comprise configuring at least one suchparameter.

In some embodiments, the channel title parameters and rendering of achannel title object to a group-based communication interface aregroup-defined. The channel title parameters, which define the channeltitle object, include channel title formatting constraints such aspermitted prefixes and suffixes, length restrictions, languagelimitations, permitted characters, and the like. In a non-limitingexample, a group-defined channel configuration template can restrict thelength of a channel title or name to 20 characters, identify the use ofavailable delimiters, and define the set of permitted prefixes that areavailable. However, other variations of restrictions, limitations, andsettings for the channel title object are also contemplated by thisdisclosure as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

In some embodiments, the arrangement of elements and components in agroup-based communication channel interface are group-defined. In suchembodiments, a group-defined channel configuration template canconfigure the channel interface arrangement. For example, thegroup-defined channel configuration template can determine thearrangement and dimensions of one or more panes displayed to theinterface (such as the sidebar pane and the messaging pane). In someembodiments, the group-defined channel configuration template determinesthe organization of channel titles to be displayed in a sidebar pane(e.g., alphabetically vs. most recent used). In still furtherembodiments, the group-defined channel configuration can define thecolors, shapes, outlines, and other features of the channel interfacearrangement. In some embodiments, the group-defined channelconfiguration can define other user interface elements and componentssuch as tabs or other selectable elements allowing for additional and/oralternative information to be displayed to the user as part ofconfiguring the channel interface arrangement. For example, as discussedbelow, the rendering of a virtual folder structure representation can beused to reflect the relationship of a plurality of group-basedcommunication channels. In some embodiments, the channel folderstructure is configured with certain limitations and requirements, butthe display and features of the resulting channel folder structure isconfigured according to the channel interface arrangement.

In some embodiments, the organization and placement of a group-basedcommunication channel in a virtual folder that reflects the channel'srelationship to other group-based communication channels aregroup-defined. For example, a plurality of group-based communicationchannels related to a first common project can be organized and storedunder a first virtual folder, while a plurality of group-basedcommunication channels related to a second common project are organizedand stored under a second virtual folder. In some embodiments, thenumber of levels and sub-levels is defined by the group and can beconfigured according to an operational sequence set associated with agroup-defined channel configuration template. In still furtherembodiments, an operational sequence set defines the routing of itemsinto such virtual folders. For example, if a channel title begins with#proj_, it may be automatically routed or sorted to a specific virtualfolder based on simply the channel prefix.

In other embodiments, the determination of potential channel members isgroup-defined. For example, as part of configuring a channel inassociation with an operational sequence set that is associated with agroup-defined channel configuration template, the potential members canbe identified as common users that are members of other similar channelsin the group. In another embodiment, the potential members can bedetermined based on an analysis of the membership of the last fivechannels created by the user. In some embodiments, the channel membersuggestion set can be rendered as one or more workflow interface objectsto the group-based communication apparatus. The user can indicateapproval of the set, and in some embodiments, edit or revise the channelmember suggestion set. In certain embodiments, the channel membersuggestion set comprises one or more user recipients to be sent achannel invitation request to become a member of the group-basedcommunication channel. In other embodiments, the channel membersuggestion set is not rendered to the group-based communicationinterface.

In further embodiments, upon configuration of the channel membersuggestion set, the group-based communication apparatus is configured toprogrammatically generate a channel invitation request for each of theone or more user recipients and transmit the channel invitation requeststo each of the one or more user recipients. In some embodiments, suchfeatures are completed by the group-based communication apparatuswithout user intervention or user engagement, automatically transmittingthe channel invitation requests requiring approval or editing by theuser.

In still further embodiments, the configuration of external applicationsis group-defined. For example, the availability of external applicationscan be defined per group in some instances. In still furtherembodiments, certain bundles of external applications can be determinedbased on the type of channel. For example, projects requiring thedevelopment of software code within a group will often utilize the sameexternal applications to organize such development and allow forcollaboration among the members. The group-defined channel configurationtemplate can set or define the most popular bundles of externalapplications. In the non-limiting example embodiment depicted in FIG.6C, after the user selected the #scripts channel in FIG. 6B, an array ofbuttons 610 associated with external applications that are associatedwith that type of channel and the group-defined channel configurationtemplate are displayed to the user. In addition, in some embodiments,one of the operational sequence steps of the retrieved operationalsequence set includes configuring the determination, arrangement, andauthentication of certain external applications that are associated withthe type of channel being created. For example, in certain embodiments,the specific configuration of an external application as associated witha first group-based communication channel differs from the configurationof the same external application as associated with a second group-basedcommunication channel.

In still further embodiments, the configuration of formatting options,capabilities, customizations, and features associated with messages in achannel is group-defined. For example, the available options can begroup-defined and the operational sequence set associated withconfiguring a channel for a specific group can comprise configuring theoptions to a specific channel or type of channel. For example, somechannel types require certain text formatting options, emojis, effects,templates, etc. available to users when drafting and/or postingmessaging communications to the selected group-based communicationchannel. In a non-limiting example, certain emojis or series of emojiscan correspond to a group-defined template for emojis. For example,specific emojis may correspond to the completion of certain operationalsequence steps associated with an operational sequence set. Saiddifferently, a group-defined template for emojis can be associated witha tracking of progress.

Similarly, in still further embodiments, the configuration of messagingoptions such as predetermined or canned message responses may begroup-defined. For example, based on the type of channel beingconfigured, certain predetermined or canned message responses may beconfigured, such as predetermined message responses in a customerservice channel or help/ticketing type channel (e.g. “Your help tickethas been received. You will receive a response within 24 hours.”).

Although the above-described examples are generally described inconnection with the configuration of a channel, one of ordinary skill inart would understand and it should be understood that the group-definedtemplate (and as a result, the associated operational sequence set(s))have a wide variety of applications, including, but not limited to,configuration of team, group, or organizational budgets, onboarding ofnew employees, onboarding of new matters or customer relationships,various project lifecycles, and the like. For example, in someembodiments, an operational sequence set corresponds to emailinteroperability. Said differently, the group-based communication systemis configured to manage interactions with non-users or users utilizingelectronic mail messages from third party systems such that the incomingelectronic mail messages are parsed and directed into a specific channelas a channel message. In some embodiments, the detection of theelectronic mail message is a workflow trigger event and the associatedoperational sequence set relates to handling such electronic mailmessage. For example, in a sales environment example, potential leadsmay be sent via electronic mail message. The contents of such electronicmail message may be parsed to determine the correct channel within whichthe electronic mail message should be converted and posted. Theoperational sequence set contains related operational sequence stepssuch as assigning the potential new lead in a round-robin fashion tocertain users, sending an automated return message indicating apotential wait time, etc. In still another non-limiting example, auser's acceptance of a channel member invitation request or a workspaceinvitation request operates as a workflow trigger event. In such anembodiment, the associated operational sequence set contains relatedoperational sequence steps such as the automatic configuration ofcertain third party applications, distribution of certain importantresources, etc.

In still further embodiments, the operational sequence steps furthercomprise programmatically generating and transmitting at least oneworkflow event to one or more external applications. For example, aspart of creating a channel or specific type of channel, access to one ormore external applications may be required. In such embodiments, the atleast one workflow event can be associated with the authentication ofthe external application, such as transmission of unique informationrequired for authentication. In other embodiments, the at least oneworkflow event can be associated with the configuration of the externalapplication to the particular channel. For example, an unaltered or “outof the box” external application may not work sufficiently for a user'sneeds. The at least one workflow event can be associated with theintegration of such external application to the specific requirements ofthe user and the associated channel. In a non-limiting example, achannel associated with software development may require access to anduse of a project management application, an issue/bug trackingapplication, an electronic mail message application, a calendarapplication, a spreadsheet application, and/or a task managementapplication. The operational sequence steps associated with such channelinclude programmatically generating and transmitting workflow eventsassociated with authentication and configuration of such applications.In still further embodiments, the at least one workflow event can beassociated with providing an alert to the external application. In stillfurther embodiments, the at least one workflow event can be associatedwith a request. For example, a user may enter data into the group-basedcommunication system. The operational sequence steps and associatedworkflow events in such instance correspond to logging the data enteredinto the group-based communication system and mapping such data to theexternal application without affecting the user's experience withexternal application. In still further embodiments, the operationalsequence steps further comprise receiving at least one workflow eventfrom the one or more external applications. Said differently, in someembodiments, the series of operational sequence steps include closingthe loop in relation to the request/information/data transmitted to theexternal application. For example, the external application returnsrequested data in order to update the group-based communication systemwith respect to the workflow trigger event. In a non-limiting example,the detection of certain message contents in a parsed message operatesas a workflow trigger event. After retrieving and initiating anoperational sequence set, the operational sequence steps furthercomprise programmatically generating and transmitting at least oneworkflow event an external application, such as an issue/bug trackingapplication. After addressing such issue/bug the external applicationtransmits a workflow event indicating the completion and resolution ofsuch issue/bug. In some embodiments, in response to detecting orreceiving such workflow event from the external application, thegroup-based communication apparatus causes rendering of one or moreworkflow interface objects to the group-based communication interfacebased upon the operational sequence set and the group-defined template.For example, the detection or receipt of such workflow event from theexternal application can trigger rendering the original parsed message(e.g., workflow trigger event) as a parent message in a thread andposting a child thread message in response within such thread, the childthread message indicating the resolution of such issue/bug and otherwiseclosing the loop of such operational sequence set. Other workflow eventsand responses are contemplated by this disclosure. For example, theoriginal message (e.g., workflow trigger event) can be updated ormodified to indicate resolution or an associated emoji can be updated ormodified to indicate resolution. Other variations of workflow eventsassociated with external applications are also contemplated by thisdisclosure as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

In still further embodiments, the operational sequence steps furthercomprise programmatically generating and transmitting at least oneworkflow event to one or more additional group-based communicationchannels. For example, as part of creating a channel or specific type ofchannel, a notification, request, or alert to another channel associatedwith a project may be required. In a non-limiting example, in creating achannel for a new project for the sales team, the operational sequencestep can comprise programmatically generating and transmitting anotification to a group-based communication channel associated withmanagement or the HR department to begin onboarding employees andstaffing the matter. In such embodiments, the at least one workflowevent can be associated with the authentication of the externalapplication, such as transmission of unique information required forauthentication. In other embodiments, the at least one workflow eventcan be associated with the configuration of the external application tothe particular channel. In still further embodiments, the at least oneworkflow event can be associated with providing an alert to the externalapplication. In still further embodiments, the at least one workflowevent can be associated with a request. Other variations of workflowevents associated with external applications are also contemplated bythis disclosure as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

In other embodiments, channel supported operational sequence sets arealso available within a group-based communication channel. FIG. 3Adepicts an example group-based communication interface 300 structured inaccordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. In someembodiments, the group-based communication interface 300 comprises aplurality of “panes” such that the group-based communication interface300 is divided into two or more panes. In such embodiments, thegroup-based communication apparatus is configured to render a pluralityof panes to the group-based communication interface 300. In suchinstances, the plurality of panes are configured to be viewablesimultaneously within a defined window display of the group-basedcommunication interface 300. For example, the depicted group-basedcommunication interface in FIGS. 3A-3B is divided into two panes, afirst pane and a second pane, which are viewable simultaneously withinthe defined window display of the group-based communication interface300. Specifically, the depicted group-based communication interface 300comprises a sidebar pane 305 and a message pane 310. In someembodiments, the conversation feed associated with the group-basedcommunication channel is rendered to the first pane (i.e., the messagingpane 310) when the user is accessing the group-based communicationsystem via a group-based communication channel interface.

The depicted group-based communication interface 300 further comprisesan operational sequence interface element 320 rendered to the messagingpane 310 of the group-based communication interface 300. Such depiction,however, is for purposes of illustration and not of limitation and othersuitable variations of the operational sequence interface element 320,including the representation of and location/placement of theoperational sequence interface element 320 in the group-basedcommunication interface 300, are also contemplated by this disclosure aswill be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

Once a user clicks on or otherwise engages the operational sequenceinterface element 320, the client device generates and transmits anoperational sequence set query. Operational sequence set queriesstructured in accordance with various embodiments of the presentdisclosure include at least a channel identifier associated with thegroup-based communication channel associated with the request. It iscontemplated that other embodiments of the operational sequence setqueries comprise additional or alternative unique identifiers. Forexample, in one embodiment, the operational sequence set query comprisesa group identifier. In still other embodiments, the operational sequenceset query comprises a workflow identifier.

Upon receipt of the operational sequence set query associated with thechannel identifier, the group-based communication apparatus isconfigured to query a group-based communication workflow repository forchannel supported operational sequence sets associated with the channelidentifier. In a non-limiting example, those operational sequence setsthat are configured for, associated with, or otherwise supported in aspecific group-based communication channel are stored in an array inassociation with the respective channel identifiers in such a repository

FIG. 3B depicts the group-based communication interface 300 of FIG. 3A;however, in the depicted embodiment, the group-based communicationinterface 300 has been configured to include a workflow menu interface330. In some embodiments, the group-based communication apparatus causesrendering of the workflow menu interface 330 to the group-basedcommunication interface 300 of a client device associated with theoperational sequence set query. In some embodiments, the workflow menuinterface 330 comprises channel supported workflow interface objects340, wherein each of the channel supported workflow interface objects isassociated with one of the channel supported operational sequence sets.The depicted workflow menu interface 330 comprises three channelsupported workflow interface objects 340 (e.g., monthly forecasting,quarterly planning, year-end budgeting) as shown. Each channel supportedworkflow interface object 340 is associated with one of the channelsupported operational sequence sets returned by the query. For example,the ‘Monthly Forecasting’ channel supported workflow interface object340 is associated with an operational sequence set that will facilitatea series of operational sequence steps related to monthly forecasting.Although the examples disclosed in FIG. 3B herein generally aredescribed in connection with finance-related operational sequence sets,one of ordinary skill in art would understand and it should beunderstood that the disclosed operational sequence set(s) andoperational sequence step(s) have a wide variety of applications,including, but not limited to, marketing, patents, legal, manufacturing,etc.

In some embodiments, each of the channel supported workflow interfaceobjects 340 is configured for user engagement via the group-basedcommunication interface 300. Configuring channel supported workflowinterface objects for user engagement allows a user to click on, engagewith, touch, or otherwise select a channel supported workflow interfaceobject 340. In still further embodiments, the group-based communicationapparatus is configured to detect user engagement of a selected channelsupported workflow interface object 340 via the group-basedcommunication interface 300 and initiate a selected channel supportedoperational sequence set associated with the selected channel supportedworkflow interface object 340, wherein the selected channel supportedoperational sequence set comprises operational sequence steps. Forexample, upon selection of the ‘Monthly Forecasting” channel supportedworkflow interface object 340, the group-based communication apparatusis configured to initiate the associated ‘Monthly Forecasting’ channelsupported operational sequence set, which comprises a operationalsequence steps sufficient to configure monthly forecasting.

In some embodiments, at least one of the operational sequence stepscomprises programmatically generating and transmitting at least oneworkflow event to one or more external applications. In the abovedescribed non-limiting example, the Monthly Forecasting operationalsequence set can include an operational sequence step requiringinteraction with a forecasting software application, such as anotification requesting initiating such monthly forecast. In stillfurther embodiments, it is contemplated, that at least one of theoperational sequence steps comprise programmatically generating andtransmitting at least one workflow event to one or more additionalgroup-based communication channels. For example, in the MonthlyForecasting example, pushing out notifications to other channels couldbe required to cull monthly forecasts from a variety of departments.

In other embodiments, the group-based communication apparatus isconfigured to receive workflow data associated with at least oneworkflow event from the one or more external applications and store thereceived workflow data to a group-based communication workflow datacorpus. For example, in the non-limiting Monthly Forecasting example,the forecasting software application can return certain forecasting datato the group-based communication apparatus in response to the workflowevent. Such data transmitted, received, and stored to the group-basedcommunication workflow data corpus is not limited to the contents of theforecasting data, but also comprises associated metadata (e.g.,timestamps, etc.).

In some embodiments, the operational sequence steps comprise causing oneor more workflow interface objects to be rendered within the group-basedcommunication interface of the client device. Such workflow interfaceobjects are utilized to provide notifications, reminders, alerts,requirements, requests, etc. to the user (or other users, externalapplications, etc.) associated with the selected channel supportedoperational sequence set. In still further embodiments, the one or moreworkflow interface objects are configured to embody an interactivedialog interface for user engagement via the group-based communicationinterface 300. For example, the interactive dialog interface maycomprise a modal pop-up requiring the user to click, select, orotherwise indicate that the user has completed a specified step or task,before the operational sequence set can continue. The embodimentsdescribed herein are not limited to pop-ups (e.g., overlaid displayedelement displayed visually over another portion of the group-basedcommunication interface 300) and non-keystroke engagement (e.g.,clicking a button), but also contemplate the interactive dialoginterface presented as a portion of or the entirety of the largergroup-based communication interface and allowing freeform keystrokeengagement with the interface.

In some embodiments, the interactive dialog interface is configured topresent any one or more of a plurality of dialogs, including but notlimited to, a notification, a request for input, a confirmation, etc.,that is intended to solicit feedback from the user. In certainembodiments, in response to detecting such user engagement, theinteractive dialog interface comprises one or more additional dialogs orone or more elements for further user engagement. In still furtherembodiments, the group-based communication apparatus is configured tostore workflow data input associated with user engagement of theinteractive dialog interface to the group-based communication workflowdata corpus. Such stored workflow data input can be used in machinelearning and identifying relationships as described below.

In some embodiments, the selected channel supported operational sequenceset comprises at least one workflow milestone event and the interactivedialog interface is associated with the at least one workflow milestoneevent. A workflow milestone event is a particular point within theoperational sequence set used to measure the progress of the operationalsequence set in comparison to the ultimate purpose or goal of theoperational sequence set. In some embodiments, an operational sequenceset comprises one workflow milestone event. In other embodiments, anoperational sequence set comprises a plurality of workflow milestoneevents. In still further embodiments, an operational sequence set doesnot comprise any workflow milestone events. In some embodiments, aworkflow milestone event is associated with a specified passage of time.In certain embodiments, a workflow milestone event is associated withthe completion of a specified number of steps in the associatedoperational sequence set, the completion of certain task, a specificachievement or target in the operational sequence set, or the like. Forexample, in the Monthly Forecasting example described above, a workflowmilestone event may be associated with a certain percentage ofdepartments completing monthly forecasts and the associated interactivedialog relates to notifying the user of the progress. In someembodiments, the workflow milestone event is detected by comparingworkflow data to a predetermined or machine-learned threshold.

In still further embodiments, the operational sequence set is furtherassociated with a group identifier and the group-based communicationapparatus is configured to programmatically generate and transmit atleast one workflow event to one or more client devices associated withthe group identifier in response to detecting completion of a firstworkflow milestone event. For example, in the Monthly Forecastingexample described above, the group-based communication apparatus maysend a notification to those channels associated with departments thathave not yet completed their monthly forecasts.

In certain embodiments, the operational sequence steps further comprisecausing one or more workflow interface objects to be rendered to the oneor more client devices associated with the group identifier. Forexample, the workflow event comprising a notification to departmentsthat have not yet completed monthly forecasting can also include aworkflow interface object to be rendered to the client devices,requiring responses from the associated users. In still furtherembodiments, the group-based communication apparatus is furtherconfigured to receive workflow data associated with the workflowinterface objects from the one or more client devices associated withthe group identifier and store the received workflow data to agroup-based communication workflow data corpus. Such stored workflowdata can be used in machine learning and identifying relationships asdescribed below.

In some embodiments, each of the channel supported operational sequencesets associated with a channel is also associated with a group-definedtemplate, the group-defined template programmatically determined basedon relationships identified among group-based communication objects of agroup-based communication workflow data corpus. Thus, it is contemplatedthat channel supported sequence sets can be created, modified, anddetermined to be supported by a channel based on relationshipsidentified in the group-based communication workflow data corpus. Instill further embodiments, such relationships are programmaticallydetermined based on one or more trained machine learning models.

Example Operations

Having described the group-based communication apparatus and exemplarycircuitry comprising embodiments of the present disclosure, it should beunderstood that the group-based communication apparatus 210 may proceedto implement operational sequence sets within a group-basedcommunication system in a number of ways.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart broadly illustrating a series of operations orprocess blocks of process 400 that are executed or performed to renderone or more workflow interface objects in a group-based communicationsystem in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. Theoperations illustrated in FIG. 4 may, for example, be performed with theassistance of, and/or under the control of group-based communicationapparatus 210.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, the depicted process begins atBlock 402, which includes detecting a workflow trigger event, theworkflow trigger event associated with a workflow identifier. Forexample, a group-based communication apparatus may include means, suchas the processor 202, input/output circuitry 203, operational sequencecircuitry 206, or the like, for detecting a workflow trigger event.

At Block 404, the depicted process 400 further includes retrieving anoperational sequence set based upon at least the workflow identifierfrom a group-based communication workflow repository, the operationalsequence set associated with a group-defined template. A group-basedcommunication apparatus may include means, such as the processor 202,operational sequence circuitry 206, or the like, for retrieving theoperational sequence set.

At Block 406, the depicted process further includes initiating theoperational sequence set and at Block 408, rendering one or moreworkflow interface objects the group-based communication interface basedupon the operational sequence set and the group-defined template. Forexample, a group-based communication apparatus may include means, suchas the processor 202, input/output circuitry 203, operational sequencecircuitry 206, or the like, for performing such initiating and renderingsteps.

FIG. 5A is a flowchart broadly illustrating a series of operations orprocess blocks of process 500 that are executed or performed to render aworkflow menu interface in a group-based communication system inaccordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. The operationsillustrated in FIG. 5A may, for example, be performed with theassistance of, and/or under the control of group-based communicationapparatus 210.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5A, the depicted process begins atBlock 502, which includes receiving a workflow operational sequence setquery associated with a channel identifier. For example, a group-basedcommunication apparatus may include means, such as the processor 202,input/output circuitry 203, operational sequence circuitry 206, or thelike, for receiving the workflow operational sequence set query from aclient device.

At Block 504, the depicted process 500 further includes querying agroup-based communication workflow repository for channel supportoperational sequence sets associated with the channel identifier. Forexample, a group-based communication apparatus may include means, suchas the processor 202, operational sequence circuitry 206, or the like,for performing such a query.

At Block 506, the depicted process further includes rendering a workflowmenu interface to a group-based communication interface of a clientdevice associated with the operational sequence set query. For example,an exemplary workflow menu interface as depicted in FIG. 3B may berendered to the group-based communication interface of a client deviceassociated with the operational sequence set query. The workflow menuinterface comprises channel supported workflow interface objects,wherein each of the channel supported workflow interface objects isassociated with one of the channel supported operational sequence setsreturned by the query performed at Block 504. For example, a group-basedcommunication apparatus may include means, such as the processor 202,operational sequence circuitry 206, or the like, for rendering such aworkflow menu interface with associated channel supported workflowinterface objects.

In some embodiments, at Block 508, the depicted process further includesdetecting user engagement of a selected channel supported workflowinterface object. In such embodiments, each of the channel supportedworkflow interface objects is configured for user engagement via thegroup-based communication interface and the group-based communicationapparatus can detect such user engagement. A group-based communicationapparatus may include means, such as the processor 202, input/outputcircuitry 203, or the like, for detecting such user engagement.

In some embodiment, the process optionally includes initiating aselected channel supported operational sequence set associated with theselected channel supported workflow interface object at Block 510. Asdescribed above with respect to the Monthly Forecasting non-limitingexample, upon detecting user engagement of the ‘Monthly Forecasting’channel supported workflow interface object as depicted in FIG. 3B, thechannel supported Monthly Forecasting operational sequence set would beinitiated. A group-based communication apparatus may include means, suchas the processor 202, operational sequence circuitry 206, or the like,for initiating such selected channel supported operational sequence set.

In still further embodiments, at Block 512, the depicted process furtheroptionally includes programmatically generating and transmitting atleast one workflow event to one or more external applications. At Block514, the depicted process includes receiving workflow data associatedwith the at least one workflow event from the one or more externalapplications. At Block 516, the depicted process includes storing thereceived workflow data to a group-based communication workflow datacorpus. A group-based communication apparatus may include means, such asthe processor 202, operational sequence circuitry 206, or the like, forperforming such steps.

FIG. 5B is a signal diagram of an example data flow represented byprocess 500. That is, FIG. 5B illustrates an example signal diagramillustrating data flow interactions between a group-based communicationapparatus, a group-based communication repository (i.e., group-basedcommunication workflow repository, including group-based communicationworkflow data corpus), one or more external applications, and one ormore client devices when rendering a workflow menu interface andinitiating a channel supported operational sequence set in accordancewith one embodiment. Process 500 is described as being performed by aclient device 101A, an external resource 103A, a group-basedcommunication apparatus 210, and a group-based communication repository207. These may be similar to those previously discussed with regards toFIG. 1.

Generating a Work Graph of Group-Based Communication Objects

Group-based communication objects may be stored in one or more databasestorage areas of the group-based communication repository 207 duringapplicable data indexing procedures. Moreover, such group-basedcommunication objects may be stored as entries of a graphical database(or a relational database providing similar functionality forillustrating relationships between group-based communication objects, orany of a variety of other database storage structures for providingsimilar data storage configurations), providing data illustrative ofgenerated relationships between various group-based communicationobjects. Those relationships between group-based communication objectsmay be generated based at least in part on data generated and appendedto various group-based communication objects, such as workflow data andworkflow data input.

The relationships between group-based communication objects define awork graph illustrating relationships among a plurality of group-basedcommunication objects, which may be usable by one or more artificialintelligence-based search systems for identifying a plurality ofinter-related group-based communication objects to configure agroup-defined template or determine which operational sequence setssupported by a group-based communication channel should be presented inresponse to a channel supported operational sequence set query. Incertain embodiments, group-based communication objects stored within awork graph are each characterized by their own accesscredentials/requirements. Accordingly, some group-based communicationobjects within the work graph may only be accessible to a select groupof users (e.g., a single user), whereas other group-based communicationobjects within the same work graph may be accessible to alarger/different group of users (e.g., all users associated with aparticular group-based communication workspace). Despite thesedifferences in accessibility between various group-based communicationobjects within a common work graph, relationships established betweenvarious group-based communication objects may be usable to establishtopics for various group-based communication objects, for establishing aparticular user's expertise, to determine relatedness of group-basedcommunication objects for search queries, and/or the like.

For each group-based communication object, the group-based communicationrepository 207, the group-based communication apparatus 210, or othercomponents of the group-based communication system 200 may perform ananalysis of the data and/or metadata generated by the group-basedcommunication system 200 to determine other group-based communicationobjects deemed sufficiently relevant to illustrate a connection withinthe work graph. Workflow data, workflow data input, and workflow eventsand their associated relationships to the group-based communicationobjects discussed herein add a valuable signal to be leveraged by thegroup-based communication system to inform any work graph data structurethat is assembled to represent or otherwise embody a group-basedcommunication object corpus or group-based communication workflow datacorpus.

Each group-based communication object of the group-based communicationworkflow data corpus comprises metadata and body content data. Invarious embodiments, the group-based communication apparatus isconfigured to determine each group-based communication object'srelationship to other group-based communication objects based on themetadata, workflow data, and the operational sequence sets. Thegroup-based communication apparatus is thus configured to assemble thegroup-based object corpus into a work graph data structure.

In certain embodiments, the group-based communication apparatus mayidentify shared topics within metadata of one group-based communicationobject relative to other group-based communication objects; identifycommon operational sequence set(s); identify common channel supportedoperational sequence sets(s); identify common operational sequencestep(s); identify similar workflow identifier(s); identify commonworkflow trigger event(s); identify common workflow event(s); identifycommon channel member(s); identify common channel title object(s);identify common channel configuration(s); identify common channelinterface arrangement(s); identify common channel folder structure(s);identify common external applications configuration, identify commonmessage formatting configurations; identify common group-basedcommunication object types; identify temporal relationships betweengeneration/transmission of group-based communication objects; and/or thelike.

The group-based communication apparatus may establish weightedrelationship scores between each of the group-based communicationobjects of the group-based communication object corpus (i.e.,group-based communication workflow data corpus). For example, strongerrelationships (e.g., a higher number of shared characteristics), orcertain types of relationships (e.g., as identified via a machinelearning algorithm) may result in a higher relationship score betweenthe analyzed group-based communication object and one or more othergroup-based communication objects. These relationship scores may beranked (e.g., by direct comparison of relationship scores, bynormalization of comparison scores on a shared scale (e.g., 0-1), and/orthe like). In certain embodiments, those relationship scores satisfyinga first degree score criteria (e.g., exceeding a score threshold) may beutilized to establish direct relationships between the analyzedgroup-based communication object and those other group-basedcommunication objects having a sufficient relationship score. Thosefirst degree scores may then be mapped within the work graph datastructure (e.g., by establishing edges between data indicative ofgroup-based communication objects within a graphical database, byproviding data indicative of related group-based communication objectswithin data of a particular group-based communication object databaseentry within a relational database, and/or the like). The process maythen be repeated for each user identifier and/or each channel identifierof a given group-based communication workspace or set of group-basedcommunication workspaces.

It should be understood that, in accordance with certain embodiments,relationships between various group-based communication objects may besymmetrical (e.g., the degree of relatedness of a first object to asecond object is identical to the degree of relatedness of the secondobject to the first object). However, it should be understood that inother embodiments, the relationships between various group-basedcommunication objects may be asymmetrical (e.g., the degree ofrelatedness of a first object to a second object is not identical to thedegree of relatedness of the second object to the first object).

Although work graph data structures assembled as described herein mayillustrate relationships between various group-based communicationobjects, the work graph data structures may also be utilized todetermine relationships between users, between users and group-basedcommunication channels, between users and topics, between group-basedcommunication channels and topics, between group-based communicationchannels, between topics, between users and group-based communicationobjects, between group-based communication channels and group-basedcommunication objects, between topics and group-based communicationobjects, and/or the like. Thus, the work graph data structure may beconfigured to establish relationships between group-based communicationobjects, and those relationships may be further utilized to identifyrelationships between other aspects of data utilized with thegroup-based communication apparatus (such as data indicative ofparticular users, channels, workspaces, operational sequence sets,and/or the like).

The group-based communication system (e.g., via the group-basedcommunication repository 207, via the group-based communicationapparatus 210, and/or the like) utilizes the work graph data structureto generate a machine learning structure trained machine learning model(e.g., a neural network) that may be utilized for programmaticallydetermining a group-defined template for operational sequence sets. Forexample, the group-based communication system may implement anunsupervised learning structure, a supervised learning structure, areinforcement learning structure, a deep learning structure, and/or thelike for utilizing relationships established via the work graph datastructure to generate a group-defined template, such as a group-definedchannel configuration template, for various group-based communicationobjects.

In certain embodiments, a global machine learning algorithm may beutilized for all group-based communication objects stored at oraccessible via the group-based communication platform system. In suchembodiments, access to particular group-based communication objects(e.g., via a search query utilizing the machine-learning algorithm) maybe limited based at least in part on access privileges of the searchinguser (e.g., a user may only be able to access group-based communicationobjects associated with permitted group-based communication channels).In other embodiments, machine learning algorithms may be establishedindependently for each of a plurality of groups, such that training ofthe machine learning algorithm is based on group-based communicationobjects exchanged within the particular group alone.

The machine learning algorithms may be generated and/or updatedperiodically, to reflect changes within the work graph data structurethat result from the addition and/or aging of group-based communicationobjects within the work graph data structure. Moreover, the machinelearning parameters (including those parameters indicative of theunderlying neural network of the machine learning algorithm) may bestored within the group-based communication repository.

CONCLUSION

Many modifications and other embodiments will come to mind to oneskilled in the art to which this disclosure pertains having the benefitof the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and theassociated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that thedisclosure is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosedand that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be includedwithin the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms areemployed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense onlyand not for purposes of limitation.

That which is claimed:
 1. A group-based communication apparatus configured to render one or more workflow interface objects in a group-based communication interface of a group-based communication system, the group-based communication apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one memory having computer-coded instructions therein, wherein the computer-coded instructions are configured to, in execution with the at least one processor, cause the group-based communication apparatus to: detect a workflow trigger event received in the group-based communication system, the workflow trigger event associated with a workflow in the group-based communication system, the workflow having a workflow identifier; retrieve an operational sequence set based upon at least the workflow identifier from a group-based communication workflow repository, the operational sequence set associated with a group-defined channel configuration template, wherein the operational sequence set comprises operational sequence steps that generate a group-based communication channel; initiate execution of the operational sequence set based on the workflow trigger event; and cause rendering of one or more workflow interface objects to the group-based communication interface based upon the operational sequence set and the group-defined channel configuration template.
 2. The group-based communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein the operational sequence steps comprise configuring at least one of a channel title object, a channel interface arrangement, a channel folder structure, a channel member suggestion set, a channel-specific external applications configuration, a channel-specific message formatting configuration, or combinations thereof.
 3. The group-based communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein programmatically generating a group-based communication channel comprises: configuring a channel member suggestion set, the channel member suggestion set comprising one or more user recipients to be sent a channel invitation request to become a member of the group-based communication channel; programmatically generating a channel invitation request for each of the one or more user recipients; and transmitting the channel invitation requests to each of the one or more user recipients.
 4. The group-based communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein the operational sequence steps further comprise programmatically generating and transmitting at least one workflow event to one or more additional group-based communication channels.
 5. The group-based communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein the operational sequence steps further comprise programmatically generating and transmitting at least one workflow event to one or more external applications.
 6. The group-based communication apparatus of claim 1, wherein the group-defined channel configuration template is programmatically determined based on relationships identified among group-based communication objects of a group-based communication workflow data corpus.
 7. The group-based communication apparatus of claim 6, wherein the relationships are programmatically determined based on one or more trained machine learning models.
 8. A group-based communication apparatus configured to render a workflow menu interface in a group-based communication interface of a group-based communication system, the group-based communication apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one memory having computer-coded instructions therein, wherein the computer-coded instructions are configured to, in execution with the at least one processor, cause the group-based communication apparatus to: receive an operational sequence set query associated with a group-based communication system channel identifier; query a group-based communication workflow repository for an operational sequence set in a set of channel supported operational sequence sets associated with the channel identifier, wherein the operational sequence set is associated with a group-defined channel configuration template; initiate execution of the operational sequence set based on a workflow trigger event received in the group-based communication system, wherein the operational sequence set comprises operational sequence steps that generate a group-based communication channel; and cause rendering of a workflow menu interface to the group-based communication interface of a client device associated with the operational sequence set query based upon the operational sequence set and the group-defined channel configuration template, the workflow menu interface comprising channel supported workflow interface objects, and wherein each of the channel supported workflow interface objects is associated with one of the channel supported operational sequence sets.
 9. The group-based communication apparatus of claim 8, wherein each of the channel supported workflow interface objects is configured for user engagement via the group-based communication interface.
 10. The group-based communication apparatus of claim 9, wherein the computer-coded instructions are further configured to cause the group-based communication apparatus to: detect user engagement of a selected channel supported workflow interface object via the group-based communication interface; and initiate a selected channel supported operational sequence set associated with the selected channel supported workflow interface object, wherein the selected channel supported operational sequence set comprises operational sequence steps.
 11. The group-based communication apparatus of claim 10, wherein at least one of the operational sequence steps comprises programmatically generating and transmitting at least one workflow event to one or more external applications.
 12. The group-based communication apparatus of claim 11, wherein the computer-coded instructions are further configured to cause the group-based communication apparatus to: receive workflow data associated with the at least one workflow event from the one or more external applications; and store the received workflow data to a group-based communication workflow data corpus.
 13. The group-based communication apparatus of claim 10, wherein the operational sequence steps comprise causing one or more workflow interface objects to be rendered within the group-based communication interface of the client device.
 14. The group-based communication apparatus of claim 13, wherein the one or more workflow interface objects are configured to embody an interactive dialog interface for user engagement via the group-based communication interface.
 15. The group-based communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the computer-coded instructions are further configured to cause the group-based communication apparatus to: store workflow data input associated with user engagement of the interactive dialog interface to a group-based communication workflow data corpus.
 16. The group-based communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the selected channel supported operational sequence set comprises at least one workflow milestone event and the interactive dialog interface is associated with the at least one workflow milestone event.
 17. The group-based communication apparatus of claim 16, wherein the operational sequence set query is further associated with a group identifier and wherein the computer-coded instructions are further configured to cause the group-based communication apparatus to: in response to detecting completion of a first workflow milestone event, programmatically generating and transmitting at least one workflow event to one or more client devices associated with the group identifier.
 18. The group-based communication apparatus of claim 17, wherein the operational sequence steps further comprise causing one or more workflow interface objects to be rendered to the one or more client devices associated with the group identifier and wherein the computer-coded instructions are further configured to cause the group-based communication apparatus to: receive workflow data associated with the workflow interface objects from the one or more client devices associated with the group identifier; and store the received workflow data to a group-based communication workflow data corpus.
 19. The group-based communication apparatus of claim 8, wherein each of the channel supported operational sequence sets is associated with the group-defined channel configuration template, the group-defined channel configuration template programmatically determined based on relationships identified among group-based communication objects of a group-based communication workflow data corpus.
 20. The group-based communication apparatus of claim 19, wherein the relationships are programmatically determined based on one or more trained machine learning models.
 21. A computer-implemented method for rendering workflow menu interface in a group-based communication interface of a group-based communication system, the computer-implemented method comprising: receiving an operational sequence set query associated with a channel identifier; querying a group-based communication workflow repository for an operational sequence set in a set of channel supported operational sequence sets associated with the channel identifier, wherein the operational sequence set is associated with a group-defined channel configuration template; initiating execution of the operational sequence set based on a workflow trigger event received in the group-based communication system, wherein the operational sequence set comprises operational sequence steps that generate a group-based communication channel; and rendering a workflow menu interface to the group-based communication interface of a client device associated with the operational sequence set query based upon the operational sequence set and the group-defined channel configuration template, the workflow menu interface comprising channel supported workflow interface objects, and wherein each of the channel supported workflow interface objects is associated with one of the channel supported operational sequence sets.
 22. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having computer program instructions stored therein, the computer program instructions configured to, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to: detect a workflow trigger event received in a group-based communication system, the workflow trigger event associated with a workflow in the group-based communication system, the workflow having a workflow identifier; retrieve an operational sequence set based upon at least the workflow identifier from a group-based communication workflow repository, the operational sequence set associated with a group-defined channel configuration template, wherein the operational sequence set comprises operational sequence steps that generate a group-based communication channel; initiate execution of the operational sequence set based on the workflow trigger event; and cause rendering of one or more workflow interface objects to a group-based communication interface based upon the operational sequence set and the group-defined channel configuration template. 